The SEATA
Hall of Fame was established in 2007 to recognize the
very best of the athletic training profession in SEATA
and is the highest honor which may be bestowed upon a
SEATA member. Individuals inducted into the SEATA
Hall of Fame exemplify the mission statement of SEATA by
enhancing the quality of health care provided by
athletic trainers and advance the athletic training
profession with such qualities as leadership, service,
dedication, scholarly activities, promotion and
professionalism.

A native Atlantan, Buck
Andel played football for and graduated from Boys High.
He went on to graduate with a bachelor's and master's
degree from Georgia Tech where he lettered in both
baseball and football. Mr. Andel was a U.S. Army
veteran of World War II receiving a Silver Star, two
Bronze Stars, and three Purple Hearts for his service.
From 1948 until 1969, he was the head athletic trainer
of all sports including track, basketball, baseball and
wrestling at Georgia Tech during which time he served 14
Bowl teams. For 18 of those years, he was a key member
of the staff of Bobby Dodd, legendary head football
coach from 1945 to 1966. He also worked as an athletic
trainer for the 1960 Olympic Games. He was one of the
NATA founders and served on the original board of
directors in 1950. He also served as District IX
Secretary from 1951to 1953. He was honored with
induction into the Georgia Tech Hall of Fame in 1968 and
received a citation from the Georgia Sports Hall of
Fame. He was and inductee in the inaugural Georgia
Athletic Trainers’ Association Hall of Fame in 2004 and
received the NATA 50 Year Award in 2005. Buck Andel
passed away February 13, 2005 at age 83.

John H. Anderson began his
career as Head Athletic Trainer at Auburn High School in
1966 after completing his B.S. at Auburn University in
1963 where he lettered in track and field and cross
country. He subsequently completed an M.S. at Auburn
University in 1967 before moving on to Troy University
as the Head Athletic Trainer in 1967 where he remained
until 1979. While at Troy he completed an M.Ed. in
1969. From 1979 through 1989 he served as the Head
Athletic Trainer at Louisiana State University before
returning to Troy in 1989 where he continues today as
the Program Director for Athletic Training Education.
In this role he has received the Ingall’s Award for
Excellence in Classroom Teaching from Troy.

John has been member of the
NATA since 1966 and became certified in 1970. His
credentials also include licensure as an EMT in both
Alabama and Louisiana. John has worked numerous
international events including the 1976 Olympics in
Mexico, the 1970 World Games, the 1983-1985 Olympic
Sports Festivals, the 1987 Pan American Games, the 1996
Olympics in Atlanta, and the 1983 World International
Special Olympics. He also served as the Head Athletic
Trainer for the Blue-Gray Football Classic 1971-1979 and
has been the Head Athletic Trainer for the Alabama
All-Star Football Classic from 1990 to present.

He has contributed through
several service clubs including the Troy Exchange Club
and the Troy Lions Club where he served as president in
1978. He chaired the Alabama Athletic Trainers’
Association Hall of Fame Committee from 1990 to 1998.
He has served as the District IX representative to the
NATA Memorials Resolutions Committee since 1999, and in
2000, he began serving as the Alabama representative to
the SEATA History and Archives Committee which he has
chaired since 2004.

John received the SEATA
District Award in 2001 and the Education/Administration
Award in 2007. In 1990, he received the NATA 25 Year
Award followed by the NATA Athletic Trainer Service
Award in 1997. He was also named NATA Most
Distinguished Athletic Trainer in 2006. In 2005, John
founded the Iota Tau Alpha Honor Society – an honor
society for Athletic Training Education Majors which
currently has 25 chapters and 500 members.

Bobby Barton earned a
bachelor’s degree from the University of Kentucky in
1968, a master’s degree from Marshall University in
1970, and a doctorate from Middle Tennessee State
University in 1976. He served as an athletic trainer at
the University of Kentucky, the University of Florida
and Florida International University, prior to going to
Eastern Kentucky University as Head Athletic Trainer and
Program Director in 1976. He served as District IX
Director and as NATA Vice President prior to being NATA
President from 1982 to 1986. He served on the NATA’s
Placement Committee, Public Relations Committee, the
50th Anniversary Celebration and Convention Planning
Committee as well as the NATA Research and Education
Foundation Board of Directors. He co-authored the
Commonwealth of Kentucky's athletic training
certification law and continued to serve his state,
district, and national organizations in numerous
professional endeavors. He remained a practicing
athletic trainer while earning professional rank at
Eastern Kentucky University and served as Head Athletic
Trainer for USA Basketball's World Championship Team at
the 1995 World University Games. He was awarded the
SEATA Award of Merit in 1987, inducted into the
NATA
Hall of Fame in 1996 and received the American
Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine Distinguished
Service Athletic Trainer Award in 1998. He was
presented with the Outstanding Football Trainer Award by
the All-American Football Foundation in 1999. In 2006,
Bobby was the first athletic trainer ever inducted into
the Ohio Valley Conference Hall of Fame and was inducted
into the Kentucky Athletic Trainers’ Society Hall of
Fame.

Marty Broussard's athletic
training career spanned six decades at Louisiana State
University. An exceptional baseball and track athlete
during his college days at LSU, Broussard took time out
to serve as a student athletic trainer for the football
team prior to earning his undergraduate degree in 1945.
He served as a U.S. Army medic during World War II
After playing professional baseball and serving as Head
Athletic Trainer at the University of Florida and Texas
A&M, he returned to LSU in 1948 at the same position.
He received both a master's degree in 1960 and a
doctorate in 1967 from LSU. In 1963, Broussard was
named Athletic Trainer of the Year by the Rockne
Foundation. He was an athletic trainer for the 1955 Pan
American Games and for the U.S. Olympics in 1960.
Broussard served on the board of directors for the
National Athletic Trainers Association, an organization
he helped create, and was named to the NATA Hall of Fame
in 1978. He was then named to the Louisiana Athletic
Trainer's Hall of Fame in 1982. Broussard was
immortalized in LSU sports in 1998 when the University
named its new, state-of-the-art multimillion dollar
athletic training facility the Martin J. Broussard
Center for Athletic Training. Dr. Broussard died June
11, 2003 at the age of 84.

Marisa Brunett, MS, ATC,
LAT, is the Director of Sports Medicine for CORA
Rehabilitation & Sports Medicine Clinics- Florida where
she is responsible for developing, implementing,
managing operations and marketing of sports medicine
programs for outpatient rehabilitation clinics and
outreach athletic training programs throughout the
state. She also continues to work in the field as an
athletic trainer at the collegiate, clinical/industrial
and high school settings. Marisa has been actively
involved in SEATA, NATA, BOC, & ATAF for 25 years.

She has been an active
member of SEATA, currently serving as the Chair of the
SEATA Public Relations Committee. Marisa served as an
officer on the SEATA Executive Board as Vice-President
from 2005-2010, as well as an Executive Board member
from 2001-2005. She has served as Chair of the SEATA
Annual Symposium Oversight Committee and the Symposium
Site Selection Committee. Marisa has also served as a
member of the SEATA Meeting Review Committee, Policy &
Procedures Committee, Annual Symposium Fiscal
Accountability Committee, the Mission & Vision Statement
Task Force and the By-Laws Revision Task Force. She has
presented at the SEATA Annual Clinical Symposium &
Members Meeting. Marisa currently serves the NATA as
the District IX member on the Public Relations Council,
a member of the Honors and Awards Hall of Fame
Subcommittee and is the incoming NATA Public Relations
Council Leader beginning her term in June 2011. Marisa
has also served the NATA as a member of the Convention
Program Committee Project Team, Governance Task Force,
member of the Convention Committee Registration Team,
District IX Host Committee Chair for the 47th Annual
Clinical Symposium in Orlando, FL in 1996 and has served
as Moderator at several NATA Annual Clinical
Symposiums. Marisa’s involvement with the BOC includes
serving as an examiner, Test Site Administrator, member
of the Test Development Group, Qualified Examiner’s
Facilitator, and District IX’s representative on the BOC
Exam Administration Committee. She has served ATAF as
Past-President, President, Vice-President, Executive
Board member, Education Committee Chair and various
committee member positions. She has also presented at
several ATAF Annual Clinical Symposiums on licensure in
the state and PR. She is currently on an ATAF project
team working with Florida’s Division of Worker’s
Compensation to have licensed athletic trainers
recognized as Health Care Providers within their
reimbursement manual. Marisa also served as a member of
the Gatorade High School Athletic Trainer Advisory
Board.

Marisa has been actively
involved in the licensure process in Florida since the
passing of the initial licensure act in October 1995.
She served as an initial member of the Florida
Department of Health’s Council of Athletic Training from
1996-2000. In 2000, the Council moved to a Board, and
she was appointed by Governor Jeb Bush to the Department
of Health’s Board of Athletic Training where she served
as Vice-Chair until 2002. Marisa was re-appointed to
the Board of Athletic Training by Governor Charlie
Christ as a member in 2006 until 2009.

For over 25 years, Marisa
has served her communities in various roles such as
public speaker, Medical Coordinator, Host Site Athletic
Trainer, Team Leader and Athletic Trainer for state,
district, national and international sporting events.
Most recently Marisa served as the Local Medical
Coordinator and the East Team Head Athletic Trainer for
the 2011 Annual East West Shrine Game in Orlando, FL.
She also served as the Local Medical Coordinator and the
West Team Head Athletic Trainer for the 2010 Annual East
West Shrine Game in Orlando, FL. She has been an
Approved Clinical Instructor with the University of
Central Florida Athletic Training Education program
since 1998 and currently sits as a member of the Orange
County Public Schools Athletic Trainer Advisory
Committee.

Marisa earned a BS in
Physical Education/Athletic Training from West Virginia
University. She completed her MS in Administration at
Florida State University while also working as an
athletic trainer for their Athletic Department.

Marisa has been recognized
by her peers for her service and contributions. In
April 2008, Marisa was inducted into ATAF “Hall of
Fame”. She is the recipient of the 2008 SEATA District
Award, 2007 BOC “Dan Liberia Service Award”, 2002 NATA
“Athletic Trainer Service Award”, the 2002 & 1997 ATAF
“Athletic Trainer of the Year” Award, the1998 ATAF
“Presidential Backbone Award”, and the1992 ATAF
“Clinical/Industrial Athletic Trainer of the Year”.

Ray
Castle, a native of St. Joseph, LA, received his
Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology from LSU in 1990, and
master and doctoral degrees from the University of
Southern Mississippi (1993; 2000).He completed his education/training in athletic
training at LSU and received his athletic training
certification in 1991.Dr. Castle is the Athletic Training Program
Director and Associate Professor of Professional
Practice in the School of Kinesiology at Louisiana State
University, a position he has held since 2002.He has been a BOC Certified Athletic Trainer
since 1991, LSBME credentialed athletic trainer (LAT)
since 1994, and is an American Red Cross Instructor
since 2005.
Castle has an extensive background in education,
clinical practice, and professional service.In athletic training education, he led LSU's
efforts in obtaining its first ever CAAHEP-accredited
athletic training program in April 2004.Dr. Castle's clinical practice background has
included experiences at the clinic (Baton Rouge Physical
Therapy; Lake Charles Memorial Sports Medicine), high
school (Catholic High School in Baton Rouge), college
(University of Southern Mississippi; University of
Louisiana-Lafayette), and international (1996 Atlanta
Olympic Games; USOC Sports Medicine Staff for 2003 Pan
American Games; and 2004 US Women's Bobsled) levels.Dr. Castle has been a highly active member of the
athletic training profession, having made numerous
presentations and authored publications at the local,
state, national and international levels, as well as
served on various organization committees at state,
district, and national levels.Dr. Castle has served on a number of committees
over the years for the LATA, including vice president.On the district level, Castle served SEATA in
various capacities including Co-Chair of the Southeast
Athletic Trainers' Association Annual Athletic Training
Student Symposium, as well as serving on the SEATA
Corporate Partnership Committee and SEATA Athletic
Training Educators Conference Planning Committee.At the national level, he has served as chair of
the NATA Educational Multimedia Committee, NATA
Education Council Executive Committee, NATA Research and
Education Foundation Board of Directors as the District
IX Board Member, and as Commissioner on the Commission
on Accreditation for Athletic Training Education
(CAATE).He
is the recipient of several awards including SEATA Chuck
Kimmel Award of Merit (2011), SEATA
Education/Administration Award (2009), NATA Athletic
Trainer Service Award (2007), SEATA District Award
(2005), LATA Charlie Martin Ten-Year Service Award
(2003) and Twenty-Year Service Award (2013), and the
Athletic Trainers' Association of Florida (ATAF)
College/University Athletic Trainer of the Year Award
(2001).
Outside of the profession, Castle’s service includes the
Capital Area Chapter of the American Heart Association
and various departmental, college, and university-wide
committees/councils.He and his wife, Katherine, live in Baton Rouge
with their son, William.

Mike Chambers, a native of
New Orleans, Louisiana was one of the first great
leaders in Athletic Training History. He pushed for
NATA organization as early as 1938. He served as the
elected President of that meeting. The meeting took
place at the Drake Relays. This effort was supported by
Charles Cramer and the Cramer Company. His first Head
Athletic Trainer position was at Georgia Tech from 1927
until 1935. During that period he participated in the
Olympics and the 1929 Rose Bowl victory by Georgia
Tech. He returned to Louisiana to serve as Head
Athletic Trainer at Louisiana State University in 1935,
a position he held until early 1943. He also worked
several all-star games in the south. One of his
protégé’s was Marty Broussard, who became the Head
Athletic Trainer at LSU. Mike Chambers was honored by
the LSU student body, when the first live tiger mascot
was named “Mike the Tiger” in his honor. He was
inducted into the NATA Hall of Fame in 1962 and the
Louisiana Athletic Trainers’ Hall of Fame in 1994.

Ron Courson has served as
Director of Sports Medicine with the University of
Georgia Athletic Association since May of 1995, after
serving four years as Director of Rehabilitation at the
University of Alabama. Prior to joining the Alabama
staff in 1991, he served as an athletic trainer/physical
therapist with Samford University in Birmingham,
Alabama. He received his undergraduate degree in
education/physical education from Samford University,
where he played soccer and ran track and field. Courson
performed two years of graduate work at the University
of Tennessee-Chattanooga, and graduated with honors from
the Medical College of Georgia with a degree in physical
therapy. A native of Birmingham, Alabama, Courson is
additionally a national registered emergency medical
technician-intermediate as well as a certified strength
and conditioning specialist by the National Strength and
Conditioning Association.

Courson has been involved in
many athletic training activities including work as an
athletic trainer with the U.S. Olympic Team at the 1988
Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea; 1990 Goodwill Games
in Seattle; 1987 World University Games in Zagreb,
Yugoslavia, 1987 Pan American Games in Indianapolis and
the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain. He served
as the chief athletic trainer for the 1996 U.S. Olympic
Track and Field Trials as well as the chief athletic
trainer for track and field for the Atlanta Committee
for the 1996 Olympic Games (ACOG).

Active in his profession,
Ron has served as a member of the NCAA Competitive
Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports Committee. He
is a past president of the Southeastern Conference
Sports Medicine Committee as well as chairman of the
College and University Athletic Trainers' Committee of
the National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA) and
NATA liaison to the American Football Coaches
Association. During his tenure at Alabama, he served as
president of the Alabama Athletic Trainers’ Association
and as chair of the Alabama Board of Athletic Trainers.
He currently serves as a member of the D1A Athletic
Directors Task Force on Student-Athlete Development.

Ron serves as an adjunct
instructor in the department of kinesiology at the
University of Georgia, teaching in the athletic training
education program. He also serves as a clinical
instructor teaching student physical therapists from
various schools throughout the country. He is active in
research and education in the field of sports medicine,
having authored a number of professional papers and text
chapters. He served as a co-author with the NATA on
position papers for emergency preparation, exertional
heat illness, management of sudden cardiac arrest and
management of head and cervical spine injuries. Ron
presents frequently at regional and national sports
medicine meetings.

Ron is married to the former
Eileen O'Connell of Waycross, Georgia. Eileen is a
physical therapist who attended the University of
Georgia and the Medical College of Georgia. Ron and
Eileen have four children, John, Anna, Luke and Will.

Don, an native of
Ithaca, New York, left his position in 1954 as an
athletic trainer with the St. Louis Cardinals
Association to become the Head Athletic Trainer at
Florida State University until his retirement in 1986.
Don Fauls was as much concerned about the Seminole
athletes off the field or court, as he was when they
were competing and practicing. Don treated the whole
person as much as he treated the injury itself. He was
a class gentleman from Ithaca College, however the
nickname “Rooster” truly helped explained his fiery
competitiveness for the Seminoles. He worked as an
athletic trainer for the U.S. Pan American team and was
a member of the Olympic Training Selection Committee.
He was named to the NATA Hall of Fame in 1981 and The
Athletic Trainers’ Association of Florida Hall of Fame
in 1995. Don was described as being one of the central
forces in the athletic program at Florida State. He was
responsible for developing an outstanding athletic
training program. On October 6, 1995, just one month
before Don’s death, the athletic training room at
Florida State was named “The Don Fauls Training Room.”
A bronze plaque at the entrance to the athletic training
room has the following inscription: Don
Fauls has been a doctor, parent, friend and confidant to
thousands of Florida State athletes for over 27 years of
service in athletics. Seminoles everywhere join to
honor this special man in the naming of this (athletic)
training area that provided the opportunity to help so
many athletes in so many ways. Let all who enter these
doors emulate the same honesty, loyalty and integrity of
this outstanding individual. Don Fauls died on November 9, 1995 at 75
years old.

Dr. Michael Ferrara is
Associate Dean of Research in the College of Education
and Professor in Kinesiology at University of Georgia.
He received his doctorate degree from Penn State
University, Masters degree from Michigan State
University and undergraduate degree from Ithaca College.

Mike has been very active in
research and has published in leading sports medicine
journals. He is active in research and has published
extensively in leading journals regarding sport-related
concussion and exertional heat illness. He has received
grants to support his research, the most recent to study
environmental factors and the risk of exertional heat
illness in interscholastic football players in Georgia.
He has given numerous lectures around the world to
include Japan, China, and Europe. Ferrara has been
active professionally at the state, regional, national
and international levels most recently serving as
President of the World Federation of Athletic Training
and Therapy and he is on the Board of Certification.

Mike has been involved in
international sports as both a leader and clinician. He
was director of medical operations for the Atlanta
Paralympic Games (1995-96) and director of medical
services for the 1992 Barcelona Paralympic Games and
United States Disabled Sports Team at the World
Athletics Championships (1994). He also was the
athletic trainer for the 1990 World Games, 1987 Pan
American Games, 1985 Olympic Festival, 1983 World
University Games an the 1982 National Sports Festival.

Ferrara has been recognized
for his leadership and scholarship throughout his
three-decade career. He was inducted into the NATA Hall
of Fame, Class of 2009, and he was named a Fellow in the
National Athletic Trainers’ Association in 2008 and in
the National Academy of Kinesiology in 2003. Recently,
Ferrara was named a 2010 Fulbright Scholar to Ireland
where he taught in the athletic training program and to
research sport-related concussion at Dublin City
University, Ireland. Previously, Mike received the NATA
Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer Award in 2003, the
NATA Educational Council Sayers "Bud" Miller
Distinguished Educator Award in 2001, and the 2006 SEATA
Education Administration Award.

Mike and Linda have been
married for 30 years and they have 2 children, Megan and
Nick.

R.T. Floyd is in his
thirty-fourth year of providing athletic training
services for The University of West Alabama. He
currently serves as Director of Athletic Training and
Sports Medicine for the UWA Athletic Training & Sports
Medicine Center, Program Director for the CAATE
accredited athletic training education program, and as
Chair and Professor in the Department of Physical
Education and Athletic Training. Previously, he served
on the Blue-Gray All-Star Football Classic athletic
training staff for 27 years.

A native of Montgomery, AL,
R.T. is a 1974 graduate of Lowndes Academy, where he
served as athletic trainer for all sports for four
years. He received a B.S. in Physical Education from
UWA in 1980 and a M.A.T. in Physical Education in 1982.
In 1995, he completed an Ed.D. in Human Performance
Studies at the University of Alabama.

In addition to his NATA
membership, R.T. is a Certified Strength & Conditioning
Specialist and a Certified Personal Trainer in the
National Strength and Conditioning Association. He is
also a Certified Athletic Equipment Manager in the
Athletic Equipment Managers’ Association, a member of
the American College of Sports Medicine, the American
Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine, the American
Osteopathic Academy of Sports Medicine, the American
Sports Medicine Fellowship Society, the Sports Physical
Therapy Section, and the American Alliance for Health,
and Physical Education, Recreation and Dance.
Additionally, he is licensed as an Emergency Medical
Technician in Alabama.

R.T. has maintained an
active career in the profession, attending every NATA
convention since 1975 and every SEATA Clinical Symposium
since the first was held in 1976, as well as numerous
other professional meetings annually. He was elected
District IX Director in the spring of 2004, and again in
2006. Through his work on the NATA Board of Directors,
he has served as liaison to four committees and two task
forces. He served two years as the NATA District IX
Chair on the NATA Research and Education Foundation
Board before being elected to his current position as
the Member Development Chair on the Board. He served as
the District IX representative to the NATA Educational
Multimedia Committee from 1988 to 2002. He served as
the Convention Site Selection Chair for District IX from
1986 to 2004 and has directed the annual SEATA
Competencies in Athletic Training Student Symposium
since 1997. He has also served as a NATA BOC examiner
for well over a decade and as a Joint Review Committee
on Educational Programs in Athletic Training site
visitor several times. Currently, he serves as the
SEATA webmaster and editor of the SEATA Newsletter
and SEATA eBlast News. He has made over a
hundred professional presentations at the local, state,
regional and national level. He is the author of the
textbook Manual of Structural Kinesiology and has
also had several articles and videos published related
to the practical aspects of athletic training.

R.T. was presented the Most
Distinguished Athletic Trainer Award by the NATA in 2003
and received the NATA Athletic Trainer Service Award in
1996. He received the District Award from SEATA in 1990
and the SEATA Award of Merit in 2001. In 1996, he was
presented the Alumni Achievement Award by the University
of West Alabama National Alumni Association in
recognition for career and civic achievements. In 1997,
the UWA Faculty and Board of Trustees recognized R.T.
for outstanding achievement in scholarship, teaching,
and leadership by presenting him with a Loraine McIlwain
Bell Trustee Professorship. In 2001, he was inducted
into the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi and the UWA
Athletic Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Alabama
Athletic Trainers Association Hall of Fame in May 2004.
In 2005 he was inducted into the Iota Tau Alpha Athletic
Training Honor Society and he received the NATA Sayers
"Bud" Miller Distinguished Educator Award in 2007.

R.T. is married to the
former Lisa Neville of Butler. They have four children,
Robert Thomas, 23, Jeanna, 22, Rebecca, 20, and Kate, 9.

James B. (Jim) Gallaspy,
Jr., a native of Jackson, MS was born on September 8,
1948. Jim began his athletic training career serving as
a student athletic trainer at Peeples Junior High School
and Provine High School. He went to The University of
Southern Mississippi in 1966 to work under the NATA Hall
of Fame member Larry "Doc" Harrington. After graduation
from Southern Miss, Jim received employment at McArthur
High School in Hollywood, Florida as a teacher/athletic
trainer where he worked for three years and then in 1973
he enrolled at Indiana State University. After
graduating, Jim worked at Moline Senior High School as a
teacher/athletic trainer and in 1974 he returned to The
University of Southern Mississippi where he worked for
26 years and was awarded Associate Professor, Emeritus
status in 2001. Jim has been President of the
Mississippi Athletic Trainers' Association, the
Southeast Athletic Trainers' Association and served on
the NATA Board of Directors from 1994-1997. He received
the Sayers "Bud" Miller Distinguished Athletic Trainer
Educator Award in 1992, the SEATA District Award in
1994, and the NATA Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer
Award in 1995. SEATA again recognized him in 1997 with
the Award of Merit. He is a member of the University of
Southern Mississippi M-Club Alumni Hall of Fame and
received the All American Football Foundation
Outstanding Athletic Trainer award in March 2000. Jim
was inducted into the
NATA Hall of Fame in 2000
and the Mississippi Athletic Trainers'
Hall of Fame in 2004. He is married to the former Sue
Barnett and they have two children Kim and Jay.

Chris A. Gillespie is in his
26th year at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama.
He is the Director of Athletic Training Education and an
Assistant Professor of Exercise Science & Sports
Medicine. He served as Head Athletic Trainer from
1982-1999 and Assistant Athletic Director for Sports
Medicine from 2000-2003. Gillespie has been the
Director of the Athletic Training Education Program
since its inception in 1985. In 1988, Samford’s program
became the first of its kind in Alabama and in a
Southeastern private institution.

Gillespie earned his
Bachelor of Science in Education degree from Mississippi
College in 1980. He earned his Master’s Degree in
Education from Northeast Louisiana in 1981.

Gillespie was President of
the SEATA from 2003-2006. He served as President of the
Alabama Athletic Trainers’ Association and on the SEATA
Executive Committee from 2001-2003. From 1995-2002, he
was a member of the NATA College and University Athletic
Trainers’ Committee and Chairman of the SEATA CUATC. In
2006 he was appointed to the Inter-Associational Task
Force on Sickle Cell Trait in Athletes. He served on
the SEATA Awards Committee from 1993-1998. In the
mid-1980’s, he was a co-founder of the SEATA Student
Symposium. Gillespie served on the Alabama Board of
Athletic Trainers from 1993-2003 and was Vice-Chairman
from 1995-2003.

Gillespie has received
numerous honors including the SEATA District Award, the
NATA Athletic Training Service Award, the SEATA
Education/Administration Award, and the 2006 NATA Most
Distinguished Athletic Trainer Award. He was inducted
into the Alabama Athletic Trainers’ Hall of Fame in
2002.

In addition to his
professional responsibilities, Gillespie is the Founder
and Executive Director of TEAM 413, a ministry for
runners. Founded in 2003, TEAM 413 travels to marathons
across the country sharing their faith. Chris has run
over 40 marathons and half-marathons with TEAM 413. In
addition, he has given presentations on running injuries
to thousands of runners at marathon seminars across the
United States.

The 49-year-old native of
Pontotoc, Mississippi has two daughters, Morgan, 23,
Ashley, 21 and two step-children, Gerrit, 10 and Hanna,
8. He and his wife, Kiki, make their home in Calera,
AL.

Robert “Bob” Goodwin, a 1963
graduate of Gulfport High School in Gulfport, MS, began
his career in 1967 as a teacher/athletic trainer at
Baker High School in Baker, LA after graduating from the
University of Southern Mississippi in the same year. In
1971, he moved to the same position at Central High
School in Baton Rouge where he continued until 1974. He
then became the Athletic Trainer at Southeastern
Louisiana University in 1974 where he remained until
retiring in 2006. Bob now works at Zelden Physical
Therapy in Covington, LA.

Bob has been very active in
the profession including working on the athletic
training staffs of the Special Olympics World Games at
LSU in 1983, the New Orleans Saints Training Camp in
1985, the Atlanta Falcons Training Camp from 1986 until
1997, co-hosting the 1992 Olympic Trails in New Orleans
and co-hosting the 1993 NCAA Track and Field
Championships in New Orleans. He has also served as the
host Athletic Trainer and Co-Chairman of the Medical
Committee for the Louisiana Special Olympic Games from
1976 to 1989, as well as the Louisiana Governor’s
Council on Physical Fitness from 1995 to 1998. Seeing
the need for athletic training education, Bob was
instrumental in the implementation of an accredited
Athletic Training Education Program at SELU and
subsequently served as a part time Instructor and
Clinical Supervisor for six years.

Bob was a charter member of
the Louisiana Athletic Trainers’ Association and has
served in numerous roles including Director of
Professional Education, Vice President, and President.
He was also a charter member of the Louisiana Sports
Medicine Society, which later recognized him with the
Jim Finks Award for Outstanding Contributions to Sports
Medicine in 1999. He has attended 28 consecutive
Louisiana Athletic Trainers’ Association Annual Meetings
and has also served on their Hall of Fame Committee for
26 years and the Program Committee for 10 years. He has
served on several SEATA committees including the Site
Selection Committee, College & University Athletic
Trainers Committee, the History & Archives Committee and
the Hall of Fame Committee. He has provided numerous
presentations to the Louisiana Athletic Trainers’
Association in addition to hosting the 25th Annual
Summer Symposium. He has also presented several times
at the SEATA Annual Clinical Symposium and the Annual
Athletic Training Student Symposium. From 1982 until
1998 he was a regular faculty member of the University
of Southern Mississippi’s Student Athletic Trainers
Workshop.

His contributions have been
recognized through induction into the Louisiana Athletic
Trainers Hall of Fame in 1992 and the Southeastern
Louisiana University Athletic Hall of Fame in 2006.
SELU also recognized him with the Outstanding Non
Classified Employee for Service in 1999. SEATA awarded
him the District Award in 1999 and the
College/University Athletic Trainer Award in 2005. He
received the NATA 25 Year Award in 1995.

Jim Goostree, a diversified
college athlete, attended Southwestern at Memphis (two
years) and then the University of Tennessee while
earning his bachelor's and master's degrees in the early
1950's. A golfer at Tennessee, he evolved into an
assistant athletic trainer under legendary athletic
trainer Mickey O’Brien. He signed on as Head Athletic
Trainer at the University of Alabama in 1957, one year
before the arrival of the late Paul "Bear" Bryant. In
his long career with the Crimson Tide, Goostree served
as Head Athletic Trainer for the both the Blue-Gray
All-Star Game and the Senior Bowl for 15 seasons. In
1984, after 27 years as Head Athletic Trainer, Goostree
assumed the role of Assistant Athletic Director at the
university. In 1987, he was promoted to Executive
Athletic Director where he was instrumental in
developing the nation’s #1 donor program, Tide Pride.
He also supervised the expansion and renovation of
Bryant-Denny Stadium, the building of the Hank Crisp
Indoor Practice Facility, the renovation of Coleman
Coliseum and Paul Bryant Dormitory, and the construction
of Sewell-Thomas Stadium before he retired in 1993. He
served as District IX Secretary from 1963 to 1968. He
was inducted into the NATA Hall of Fame in 1984 and was
one of the first two inductees into the Alabama Athletic
Trainers’ Association in 1995. Jim Goostree passed away
October 19, 1999.

Tad Gormley, a native of
Cambridge, Massachusetts trained for the 1904 and 1906
Boston Marathon. He was brought to New Orleans in 1907
by the New Orleans Athletic Club to develop a marathon
team. He worked throughout the city as a trainer and
track coach and also trained Olympic boxers. He served
as athletic trainer at Loyola of the South University in
New Orleans. He became the first athletic trainer in
the state of Louisiana. He treated and cared for all
athletes in the crescent city. Following mass on
Sunday’s the “Gormley Games” took place in city park.
Tad served as coach, athletic trainer and organizer for
the weekly events. A huge number of great athletes from
the greater New Orleans area began careers in these
weekly events. The events were such a success and such
a part of the crescent city, that when a stadium was
added to the park, it was named in honor of Tad Gormley.
Though efforts were made by both Louisiana State
University and Tulane to obtain his services, Tad
Gormley remained a part of Loyola until his retirement
in the mid 1950’s. He was inducted into the NATA Hall
of Fame in 1962 and the Louisiana Athletic Trainers’
Hall of Fame in 1990. Tad Gormley died in 1965 at the
age of 81 near the place to which he dedicated his life
- City Park Stadium near Loyola University.

Al Green has been serving the
Athletic Training profession on the national, district and
state levels since attending his first NATA convention in
1970 as a freshman college student. Al received his BS
degree from the University of Michigan and his MEd from the
University of Arizona. Highlights of Mr. Green’s service
includes: Chairperson for the NATA Public Relations
Committee, member of the Board of Certification and
Convention Registration Committee, Chair District IX Public
Relations Committee, President and Vice President of the
Kentucky Athletic Trainers Society. Al started his career
as an Assistant Athletic Trainer at the University of
Michigan then spent 17 years as Head Athletic Trainer at the
University of Kentucky. Al volunteered with the USOC and
worked two Olympic Sports Festivals and the 2003 Pan
American Games. Mr. Green was the 2001 recipient of the
NATA Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer Award. Al served
his community as Medical Director of the Blue Grass State
Games and as a volunteer firefighter and EMT. He received
the Certificate of Valor in 1994 from the Kentucky
Department of Fire Prevention for saving two people from
their burning home. Most recently he was inducted into the
Kentucky Athletic Trainers’ Society Hall of Fame in 2007.
Al is married to fellow NATA Hall of Fame recipient, Sue
Stanley-Green. They are the first husband and wife NATA
members to be inducted into the
NATA Hall of Fame (2004).

David T. Green, 54, is in
his 23rd season at the helm of the Tennessee Tech
University athletic training program and soon will
celebrate his 32nd year in the profession. Beginning
his tenure at Tech as a one-man operation, he has been
the driving force behind growing the University's sports
medicine program and expanding the scope and quality of
services available to student-athletes.

David was a student athletic
trainer at Middle Tennessee State prior to earning a
Bachelor's Degree in Health, Physical Education and
Recreation in 1975. He then worked as a Graduate
Assistant Athletic Trainer at Eastern Kentucky
University before receiving his M.A. in Health Education
in 1977. After spending the next three years at Paul G.
Blazer High School in Ashland, KY he returned to EKU as
Assistant Athletic Trainer from 1980 to 1985 before
beginning his tenure at Tennessee Tech.

In 1987, he was responsible
for creating and naming the Dr. William C. Francis
Training Complex in recognition of Dr. Francis’ 30 years
as team physician.

In addition to serving on
several Tennessee Athletic Trainers' Society committees,
David served as the TATS Vice-President from 1994 to
1998 and President from 1998 to 2002, which lead to his
service on the SEATA Executive Board during the same
years. He served on the NATA Board of Certification as
a Member representing SEATA from 1981 to 1987, and was
President of the Ohio Valley Conference Athletic
Trainers’ Association in 1983, 1989, and 1991. David
has served as the SEATA Exhibits Chair and on the SEATA
Site Selection since 1993. During the 1996 Olympic
Games in Atlanta, David was a volunteer, working in the
main Athletic Training room at the Olympic Village. He
was co-host to 10,000 in attendance at the NATA Annual
Meeting and Clinical Symposium in Nashville in 2000.
Currently, he serves on the Special Awards Subcommittee
of the NATA Honors and Awards Committee.

In 1994, David was named the
Eugene Smith/Mickey O’Brien College Athletic Trainer of
the Year by TATS. In 1996, he received a NATA Athletic
Training Service Award and earned the NATA 25 Year Award
in 1997. In 2003, David was inducted into the Tennessee
Athletic Trainers' Society's (TATS) Hall of Fame and was
named NATA Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer. In
2006, he received the TATS President’s Award of Merit.

David and his wife, Brenda,
have two daughters, Danielle (21) and Kaycee (17).

Frank Grimaldi, Jr. is a
board certified orthopedic surgical physician assistant
for Jewett Orthopaedic Clinic in the Orlando, FL area
transitioning to the Jacksonville Orthopaedic Institute
in another month. Prior to his current career as a
PA-C, Frank worked as an athletic trainer since 1975.
He began first as a student athletic trainer, then as a
graduate assistant at Northern Illinois University,
where he graduated in 1978 with a B.S in Education, and
an M.S. in Education in 1979 . He then was an athletic
trainer at United Township High School in East Moline,
IL from 1979 to 1983, the University of Maryland from
1983 to 1989, the University of Miami from 1989 to 1993,
and Miami Sunset Senior High School in Miami, FL from
1993 to 2002. He has since earned an A.S. Degree as a
Physician Assistant from Miami-Dade College in 2004 in
Miami, FL. He also received a Masters in Medical
Science from Nova Southeastern University in 2004 in Ft.
Lauderdale.

Frank has served and
continues to serve on a number of state, district, and
national committees and boards for the athletic training
profession, including President of SEATA from 2000 to
2003, President of Athletic Trainers Association of
Florida (ATAF) from 1997 to 2001, and Board of Directors
for the Quad Cities Athletic Trainers Association from
1982 to 1983.

Frank has won a number of
athletic training awards, including induction into the
ATAF Hall of Fame in 2004, the SEATA Award of Merit in
2003, the NATA Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer Award
in 2000, ATAF Athletic Trainer of the Year in 1998, NATA
Athletic Trainer Service Award in 1996, and ATAF High
School Athletic Trainer of the Year in 1994. As a
physician assistant, Frank was awarded the Distinguished
Service Award from the Miami-Dade College Physician
Assistant Program in 2004 as well as the Director’s
Leadership Award from Miami-Dade College Physician
Assistant Program in 2004.

Frank has worked at a number
of international athletic events, including the Greek
International Baseball Team for the “B” Pool
International Baseball Championships in Nagykanizsa,
Hungry in 2002 where he served as Head Athletic Trainer,
Medical staff for the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, GA,
and athletic trainer for the 1990 Lacrosse World Cup in
Perth, Australia for the USA team. He also served as a
professional legal consultant for several medical cases
involving athletes who died from sports-related heat
illnesses.

Frank’s prior speaking
engagements include CORA Continuing Education Program
2006, ATAF Annual Symposium in 2002 and 2006, SEATA
Athletic Training Student Symposium in 2001 and 2002,
NATA National Convention in Los Angeles, CA in 2001,
high school athletic trainers clinics from 1981 to 1983
and 1992 to 1994, Career Days for high school and grade
school students from 1983 thru 1993 and Coaching Clinics
1979 thru 1982.

Frank has been married to
Mary Kay for the past 24 years; they live in Winter
Park, Florida.

Lori M. Groover was actively
involved in the athletic training profession since
1992. She began her career as Chair of the Georgia
Athletic Trainers’ Association High School Committee,
followed by Vice President of the GATA for two years.
She then served as GATA president before being elected
SEATA Secretary. During her involvement, Lori helped
foster the GATA Annual High School Student Athletic
Trainer Meeting, GATA membership growth, and provided
state practice act improvements. Lori worked closely
with WAGA Fox 5 television on the story portraying the
need for licensed athletic trainers.

Lori was elected interim
SEATA Secretary in the Spring of 2006 and subsequently
elected to a regular term in the fall of 2006. During
her time on the SEATA Executive Board, Lori served as
Elections Committee Chair and served as liaison to the
SEATA Website and Newsletter Committee. She also served
as the GATA representative to the SEATA Public Relations
Committee and was very active in getting members to
write Congress regarding athletic training legislation.

Lori served as a BOC test
examiner for seven years and served on the Sports
Medicine Advisory Committee for the Georgia High School
Association. She was an inaugural member of the
Gatorade High School Athletic Trainer Board and was an
instructor for the Georgia High School Association
Coaches’ First Aid Course. Lori also served as NATA
Volunteer Team Leader for the 2006 NATA Annual Meeting
and Symposium held in Atlanta.

Lori worked as an athletic
trainer since receiving her undergraduate degree in
Sports Medicine from Valdosta State (College)
University. She worked as a Staff Athletic Trainer with
Candler Sports Medicine and Memorial Sports Medicine and
South Effingham High School in Savannah, as the
inaugural full time Athletic Trainer at Woodward
Academy, as a Physician Extender Fellow at University
Orthopaedics in Decatur, Georgia and most recently
Assistant Professor and Coordinator of Health Sciences
at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, LA.

Lori passed away on August
6, 2009 after being diagnosed with cancer in June. In
2009 Nicholls State University named a Student
Leadership and Professionalism Award in her honor and in
2010 the Georgia Athletic Trainers’ Association named
their scholarship program in memory of her and the
leadership she provided.

After graduating from Mercer
College in 1923, Charles "Smokey" Harper became known as
one of the most prominent athletic trainers in the
Southeast Conference. From 1931 to 1936 he trained at
Vanderbilt before moving on to Florida for a short
time. Smokey also worked at UCLA for “Red” Sanders for
one year. In 1940 he returned to Vanderbilt, met Paul
"Bear" Bryant and followed the coaching legend to
Kentucky, Texas A&M and Alabama before he eventually
retired. During his career he served as a mentor to
"Rusty" Payne at Kentucky, and to Billy Pickard, Roy Don
Wilson and Jerry Rhea at Texas A&M. He was regarded by
his fellow athletic trainers and students as a nice and
very practical man. Coach Bryant commented that he
could read people better than anyone he ever had on his
staff.

Earnest "Doc" Harrington was
born in Hattiesburg, MS in 1931. After spending one
year as an undergraduate at Tulane he returned to his
hometown and the University of Southern Mississippi. He
began his tenure as the Head Athletic Trainer at
Southern Miss in 1958 through his retirement in 1994.
During his tenure in Hattiesburg he also served as the
school’s tennis coach and equipment manager. In
addition to holding a doctorate in education, Doc was a
licensed Physical Therapist and a Colonel in the U.S.
Army Reserves. Doc also served for a number of years
beginning in 1960 as the Head Athletic Trainer for the
Senior Bowl. He was the first director and project
coordinator for the nationally approved Athletic
Training Specialization program at the University of
Southern Mississippi and has had a number of articles
published over the years. He is a member of the
National Football Foundation Sports Hall of Fame and the
USM M-Club Alumni Hall of Fame. He was a 1987 inductee
into the NATA Hall of Fame and was inducted with the
first class of inductees into the Mississippi Athletic
Trainers’ Association Hall of Fame in 2003. Doc
received the NATA 50 Year Award in 2006.

Since his days as an
athletic trainer for the old Brooklyn Dodgers Baseball
Organization, Eugene "Doc" Harvey has continuously
enhanced his skills as a dedicated rehabilitation
specialist. Before moving to Brooklyn, and later Los
Angeles when the Dodgers moved west, Doc served as an
athletic trainer in Pueblo, Colorado, and Montreal,
Canada. He was known as a hard worker who kept his
players in excellent condition. He served under
legendary Coach Eddie Robinson and was an integral part
of numerous Southwestern Athletic Conference
Championships both during and since Coach Robinson’s
tenure. Doc supervised the Grambling State University
athletic training and rehabilitative facility, ranked as
one of the best in Division I-AA until his retirement
1998. He continues to work part time at Grambling as
Coordinator in Sports Medicine during football season.
He owns and operates a private therapy clinic working
with a number of physicians and hospitals in Grambling.
Doc was inducted into the Louisiana Athletic Trainers’
Association Hall of Fame in 1982 and the NATA Hall of
Fame in 1986. He received the NATA 50 Year Award in
2005.

MaryBeth Horodyski, EdD, ATC
has a long history of service to the athletic training
profession. Beginning as a regional representative for
NYATA, MaryBeth has been active in the NATA for 27
years, with 16 of those years in both SEATA and ATAF.
She has served on the SEATA Executive Board for 11
years, and has represented SEATA as President of
District IX since 2006. Her extensive leadership in
SEATA includes serving as co-chair for the Research and
Education Committee (3 years), SEATA Secretary/Treasurer
(5 years), and SEATA Treasurer (4 years). Nationally,
MaryBeth has served 7 years on the NATA Graduate
Education Committee, the Secretary/Treasurer Committee
(9 years), and served on the Editorial Board of the
Journal of Athletic Training. She has also served
as Florida’s Research and Education Foundation State
Representative (6 years), and was selected as Public
Relations Chair for the NATA Research and Education
Foundation.

Both her peers and the
public have recognized MaryBeth for her contributions.
She is a recipient of the SEATA Award of Merit (2006)
and the SEATA District IX Award (2002). She has been
awarded the NATA Service Award (2000), the ATAF
College/Professional Athletic Trainer of the Year Award
(1997), the Bronze Gator Award for community service
from the Gainesville Sports Organizing Committee (1997),
and the Superior Civilian Service Award, and Medal from
the US Government (1992). In 2004 she was honored with
the NATA Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer Award and
was inducted into the ATAF Hall of Fame.

She graduated from Lock
Haven University (PA) in 1982 with a B.S. in HPERD and
Athletic Training. She completed her master’s degree in
exercise physiology at Iowa State University while
working as an athletic trainer for the Athletic
Department. MaryBeth then served at the US Military
Academy, West Point, NY for eight years, first as
Assistant Athletic Trainer and later as Head Athletic
Trainer in the Department of Physical Education. While
at West Point, she earned an Ed.D. in applied human
physiology at Columbia University.

In 1992, MaryBeth joined the
University of Florida faculty in the Department of
Exercise and Sport Sciences, where she served as
Director of the Graduate Athletic Training Program and
was the Director of the Athletic Training/Sports
Medicine Outreach Program, which serviced 12 high
schools, a community college, a community/industrial
setting, and 2 campus locations. MaryBeth’s strong
interest in research led her to collaborations with
faculty from the Department of Orthopaedics and
Rehabilitation, which resulted in a joint appointment in
that Department in 1997. In August 2002, she accepted
the position of Director of Research for the Department
of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation and a joint
appointment with the Department of Physical Therapy. In
addition to facilitating research for all the faculty in
her Department, she supervises research for orthopaedic
residents, and continues her own research. Recently
funded studies have compared techniques for moving a
spine-injured athlete and ways to prevent heat illness
in football players performing in a warm environment.
MaryBeth has coauthored or edited three books and has
published 57 papers in peer-reviewed publications. She
was an author on approximately 120 abstracts presented
at professional conferences and has delivered 20
additional speeches or seminars at the national and
international level. Dr. Horodyski is a frequent
speaker for the SEATA Athletic Training Student
Symposium (15 years, 25 presentations), NATA symposiums,
and numerous other professional organizations.

MaryBeth has served as an
athletic trainer in settings as diverse as high school,
college (Divisions I and III), and the military. As a
supervisor, she has mentored over 130 certified athletic
trainers in these arenas and in industrial settings.
For over 20 years, MaryBeth has served her local
communities in roles such as Medical Coordinator for the
Florida High School State Track Meet (4 years), Florida
High School State Football Championships (3 years),
Florida Sunshine State Games (2 years), and the Florida
Special Olympics (1 year).

MaryBeth and her husband,
Bob, reside in Gainesville, FL with their three
children: Nicole (age 20), Bobby (age 17,) and Jonathan
(age 10).

Milford "Kenny" Howard, born
in Crossville, Alabama went to Alabama Polytechnic
Institute (now Auburn University) to study Agriculture,
but got a job as student athletic trainer under
legendary trainer and track coach Wilbur Hutsell. Upon
graduation in 1948, Howard was named Head Athletic
Trainer, a post held until 1976. From 1976 through 1980
he served Auburn as its first Assistant Athletics
Director for Olympic Sports. After retiring from Auburn
in 1980 he went to work as Director of Sports Relations
for the Hughston Sports Medicine Foundation, Inc., and
continued until his retirement in 1995. While serving
as Auburn's Head Athletic Trainer, Kenny became the
confidant of Head Football Coach Ralph Jordan. That
friendship led to Dr. Jack Hughston becoming Auburn's
Orthopedic Surgeon and Team Physician for the next 40
years. Kenny was the athletic trainer for the U.S.
Olympic Track team at Helsinki in 1952 and for the 1976
U.S. Olympic Swim team in Montreal. He also served as
head athletic trainer for the World University Games on
two occasions. He was the athletic trainer for the
Blue-Gray Game for ten consecutive years and the Senior
Bowl for two years. Kenny served as District IX
Director from 1959 to 1960 and was the first athletic
trainer inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame.
Kenny is a member of the NATA Hall of Fame, the Alabama
Athletic Trainers’ Association Hall of Fame, and the
Hughston Society. In 2005, Kenny received the American
Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine Distinguished
Service Athletic Trainer Award and the NATA 50 Year
Award. He is married to the former Jeanne Barnhart and
they have three sons and daughter. Jeanne and Kenny
continue to reside in Auburn.

Thomas "Tim" Kerin graduated
from Westinghouse Memorial High School in Wilmerding, PA
in 1965 and received his B.S. from Indiana University of
Pennsylvania in 1969. After graduation, Tim began as
the Head Athletic Trainer and math instructor at Penn
Hills High School in Pittsburgh. In 1972 Tim was
awarded an M.S. in mathematics from Indiana University
of PA and became Head Athletic Trainer and an Associate
Professor at the University of Pittsburgh. He received
an M.Ed. in Physiology of Exercise from Pittsburgh in
1976. Tim became the Head Athletic Trainer at the
University of Tennessee in 1977 and helped the football
team achieve seven victories in 11 bowl appearances
before his death in 1992. Tim served on the NATA's
Program and Convention Committees from 1979 to 1991. He
was SEATA's Awards Committee Chair from 1988 until
1992. He served on the athletic training staffs of over
two dozen local, regional and national athletic events
and was extremely active in the community. In 1986 he
was a founding member of Knoxville's Metropolitan Drug
Commission and served as its president from 1987 to
1989. Tim received a Chancellor's Citation from the
University of Tennessee in 1990 and the SEATA Award of
Merit in 1991. The Tim Kerin Sports Medicine Facility
at Tennessee was named in his honor in 1993. He
was inducted into the
NATA Hall of Fame in 1993. Tim was
named the Eugene Smith/Mickey O’Brien College Athletic
Trainer of the Year by the Tennessee Athletic Trainer's
Society in 1993 and inducted into their Hall of Fame in
1994. Tim was inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall
of Fame in 2001. One of the highest awards given by the
NATA annually is the Tim Kerin Award.

Born in
Hopkinsville, Ky., Chuck Kimmel grew up in Frankfort, KY
where he graduated from Franklin County High School in
1972. He served as a student athletic trainer for the
University of Kentucky football team for three seasons
and for the Wildcats' 1976 NIT basketball championship
club his senior season in 1976. He then moved to East
Tennessee State University where he earned his master's
degree and later became a full-time Assistant Athletic
Trainer before being only the second athletic trainer
hired by Austin Peay State University in 1981. He
quickly built one of the most respected athletic
training programs in the region. For years, Cramer
Products, the industry leader in sports medicine
supplies, chose Austin Peay as host to the annual
Student Athletic Training Workshops. In 1990, Chuck was
appointed APSU's assistant athletics director.

At the same time, Chuck was
becoming one of the leaders in his profession. Chuck
served as Exhibits Chairman for SEATA from 1981 to 1992,
and also served as President of the Tennessee Athletic
Trainers' Society (TATS) from 1989-93. In 1992, he was
elected Secretary/Treasurer by SEATA and served in that
position to 1997 when he began a three year term as
SEATA President. In 2000, he began the first of two
terms as the District IX Director. He was elected NATA
Secretary/Treasurer in 2001, and chaired NATA’s Finance
and Investment Committees. He was also Board liaison to
the College/University Athletic Trainers’,
College/University Student Athletic Trainers’ and
Convention committees. He served as Co-Chair of the
Host Committee for the 2000 NATA Convention in
Nashville. Chuck began his first term as NATA President
in 2004, and will complete his second term in June 2008.

In 1988, Chuck was
recognized with the District Award from SEATA. TATS
selected him as the Eugene Smith/Mickey O’Brien College
Athletic Trainer of the Year in 1991. The NATA provided
Chuck with the Athletic Training Service Award in 1997,
the 25 Year Award in 1999, and named him NATA Most
Distinguished Athletic Trainer in 2002. In January
2002, Chuck was inducted into the TATS Hall of Fame, and
in 2005, received the President’s Award of Merit from
TATS. In 2005, he received the SEATA Award of Merit and
was inducted into the Austin Peay State University
Athletic Hall of Fame in 2006.

Chuck retired from Austin
Peay in 2007, and accepted the position of Injury Clinic
Director and Instructor for Appalachian State University
in Boone, North Carolina. He and his wife, Patty, have
three grown children, Chad, Meredith and Adam.

A native of Morgan,
Minnesota and graduate of Indiana University, Dean
Kleinschmidt joined the New Orleans Saints as an
Assistant Athletic Trainer in 1969 under Warren Arial
and was promoted to Head Athletic Trainer in 1971 where
he remained until 2001. He also coordinated all sports
medicine efforts at the Senior Bowl All-Star Game in
Mobile, Ala., since 1971. In 2001-02 he served as the
administrative director at East Jefferson General
Hospital Wellness Center in Metairie, La. before
spending the 2002 and 2003 seasons as the Washington
Redskins' Head Athletic Trainer. Dean is now in his
third season as Indiana University’s Head Athletic
Trainer for football. He served three terms as
President of the Professional Athletic Trainers' Society
after serving on their Executive Committee for 12
years. He was named "Professional Athletic Trainer of
the Year" in 1986, and he and assistant Kevin Mangum
were honored as the "NFL Athletic Training Staff of the
Year" following the 1986 season. In 1991, he was the
local host of the annual NATA Clinical Symposium in New
Orleans and served several years on the NATA Foundation
Scholarship Committee. Dean served as Chairman of
Medical Support for the 1992 Olympic Track Trials in New
Orleans. He received the SEATA Award of Merit in 1992.
He was inducted into the Louisiana Athletic Trainers'
Association Hall of Fame in 1990, the
NATA Hall of Fame
in 1994 and named to the New Orleans Saints Hall of Fame
in 2002. In the same year Dean received the Tim Kerin
Award for Excellence in Athletic Training from the NATA
and was awarded the National College Football Foundation
Athletic Trainer of the Year in 2003.

Doc Knight served the
University of Mississippi for almost 28 years before his
retirement in 1975. A 1935 graduate of Springfield
College with a BS degree in Health and Physical
Education, Knight went to New York City to study at the
Eastern School of Physiotherapy and at Bellevue
Hospital. After completing his higher education, Doc
Knight served as a “trainer”, physical education
instructor and assistant track coach at several
institutions before beginning his almost three decade
long career at ‘Ole Miss. Wes Knight was known for his
fiery competitive spirit as exhibited by his pregame
speeches to the team prior to Ole Miss Football Games.
There was never any doubt about his caring for the many
Rebel athletes he treated and loved. Many still
remember and cherish the preseason letters taped to
their lockers prior to August practice. While at ‘Ole
Miss Doc Knight was not only the athletic trainer, but a
very successful track coach as well. Knight produced
several unbeaten teams and his squads produced several
school records. Furthermore, Knight served as the
President of the SEC Athletic Trainers Association and
member of the NATA Board of Directors for District IX
from 1961 to 1963. His greatest accolade came in 1969
when he was inducted into the NATA Hall of Fame, the
same association in which he was a charter member.
After his retirement he was given the honor of “Trainer”
Emeritus at ‘Ole Miss and was active in the coaching
ranks for the Special Olympics. He was inducted into
the University of Mississippi Athletic Hall of Fame in
1988 and the Mississippi Athletic Trainers’ Association
Hall of Fame in 2003. Doc Knight, 74, died in 1983.

Samuel Lankford was associated
with athletic training, professional publications, and
related activities since 1930. Before coming to
Virginia Tech in 1963 as head athletic trainer, Lankford
spent 12 years at the University of Florida in the same
position. For several years Lankford was the athletic
training editor of the National Athletic Journal. Among
his professional contributions are two books and
numerous articles on athletic training and
conditioning. He also developed, manufactured, and sold
an adherent in the early 60's called Tough Gator. He
represented District IX on the NATA Board of Directors
from 1955 to 1957. He also served as District IX
Secretary from 1955 to 1957 and from 1959 to 1963.

A native of Marietta, Ohio,
Donald D. Lowe earned a Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees
from Kent State University, where he also served as a
Graduate Assistant Athletic Trainer in 1965, Assistant
Athletic Trainer 1966-1969, and Head Athletic Trainer
from 1969-1975. Mr. Lowe was the Coordinator of Sports
Medicine at Syracuse University from 1975-2000. He
served the greater Syracuse community and the Central
New York region by creating the organizational structure
and becoming the Executive Director of Onondaga Sports
Medicine Clinics in 1986. Mr. Lowe served as the
Director of Sports Medicine at Georgia Tech from
2000-2002. He has a multitude of U.S.O.C. experience,
highlighted by his services as the Men’s Basketball
Athletic Trainer in the 1983 Pan American Games, and on
the U.S. Olympic Training Staff at the 1992 Summer
Olympic Games in Barcelona. Mr. Lowe served the NATA on
various committees and was Secretary of District 2 from
1982-1992. Mr. Lowe, along with other New York State
ATCs, was instrumental in forming the New York State
Athletic Trainers’ Association and served as its
President from 1984-1986; Empire State Games host
athletic trainer, as well as helping to obtain
professional regulation of athletic trainers in New York
State. In 1992 Mr. Lowe was instrumental in the
formation of the College Athletic Trainers Society. He
has received many awards for his outstanding service,
highlighted by his 1983 Thomas Sheehan Award for Most
Outstanding Athletic Trainer in New York State, National
Collegiate Athletic Trainer of the Year in 1986, Eastern
Athletic Trainers’ Association “Cramer’s Excellence
Award” in 1991, NATA Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer
in 1995, and the
NATA Hall of Fame in 1999.

Werner "Dutch" Luchsinger was
associated with sports in the southern section of the
U.S. for 48 years. Dutch was a native of Milwaukee,
Wisconsin and studied at State Teachers College in
Milwaukee before attending Tulane University. He was a
three sport standout in football, baseball, and track at
Tulane prior to earning his degree in 1930. After
graduation, Luchsinger, better known as “Dutch”, served
as Athletic Director at Fortier High School in New
Orleans from 1930 until 1941. From 1941 to 1943 he
served as Physical Training Director at Keesler Field.
In 1949 Dutch began his role as Mississippi State’s Head
Athletic Trainer and continued until his retirement in
1965. He served as an Olympic athletic trainer in
1960. Dutch later worked as Athletic Trainer with the
New Orleans Buccaneers an American Basketball
Association franchise. During his tenure in Starkville,
he became the first elected Director of District IX in
1950. He represented District IX on the NATA Board of
Directors from 1951 to 1953 in addition to serving as
the President for the SEC athletic trainers. Dutch was
inducted in to the NATA Hall of Fame in 1967 and the
Louisiana Athletic Trainers’ Association Hall of Fame in
1983. He was inducted into the Mississippi State
University Sports Hall of Fame in 1984. Later, in 2003,
he was in the first class of inductees into the
Mississippi Athletic Trainers’ Association Hall of Fame.

As Head Athletic Trainer at
Georgia Thomas "Fitz" Lutz was instrumental in saving a
season for the star of the team and keeping the Bulldogs
rolling through "The Golden Era" of great Georgia teams. He
served at Georgia from 1938 to 1942. He invented and
patented a special face mask for the Bulldogs' star, Frankie
Sinkwich, enabling him to play the entire season with a
fractured jaw. He was one of the first athletic trainers to
make custom molded mouthpieces, by applying a layer of latex
a day, then starting the process over again each week on
Monday after the players chewed them up during the games.
Lutz eventually became the Baltimore Colts head athletic
trainer for three seasons before going to the University of
North Carolina in 1950. Lutz died four years later in
Chapel Hill at the age of 44.

James H. “Jim” Mackie graduated
from the University of Florida with a degree in Physical
Education in 1974 and received a Masters degree in Education
with an emphasis in School Health from Eastern Kentucky
University in 1975. He was certified as an Athletic Trainer
from the National Athletic Trainers Association in 1975, and
licensed by the State of Florida in 1995.

His work experience includes:
Assistant Athletic Trainer at the University of Florida
(1975-1988); Braintree Hospital Outpatient & Sports Medicine
and Brockton High School (1988 – 1992); Riverside Hospital &
Baptist \ St. Vincent’s Health System (1992-1999); and
HealthSouth Rehabilitation and Sports Medicine (2000-
2002). He returned to St. Vincent’s Rehab & Sports Medicine
in the fall of 2002, where he currently serves as an
Athletic Trainer. He served as a volunteer ATC at the 1996
Olympics in Atlanta, as well as coordinated medical services
for numerous events such as the GATE River Run, The
Jacksonville Marathon, the PGA-MS 150 Bike Tour, Hoop It Up,
and others.

Jim has been recognized with the
following awards: the Backbone Award from the Southeastern
Athletic Trainers Association (SEATA) in 1985, the Athletic
Training Service Award from the National Athletic Trainers
Association (NATA) in 1997, the Most Distinguished Athletic
Trainer Award from NATA in 2004, and the District Award from
SEATA in 2006. He helped to organize the Athletic Trainers
Association of Florida, where he served as President for 6
years and Vice-President for 2 years. He was inducted into
the Athletic Trainers Association of Florida Hall of Fame in
1999. Currently, Jim serves as Treasurer for the National
Athletic Trainers Association District 9 / Southeast
Athletic Trainers Association. He previously served for 5
years as Secretary for SEATA, and has served on the
Placement Committee and the Public Relations Committee for
District 9 of the NATA.

He and his wife, Debbie, serve
in Jacksonville as local Program Directors for HOPE
worldwide, an international charity that changes lives by
harnessing the compassion and commitment of dedicated staff
and volunteers to deliver sustainable, high-impact,
community-based services to the poor and needy. He has
served as a volunteer with the National Multiple Sclerosis
Society and the 2005 Super Bowl Host Committee as well. Jim
also served 2 years on the Board of Directors for the
Jacksonville Church of Christ in 2005-2006. He was
appointed by former Florida Governor Jeb Bush to the Board
of Athletic Training for the state of Florida in 2006, and
continues in that capacity today. Jim currently serves on
the Board of Directors of the Jacksonville Sports Medicine
Program and chairs its Public Relations Committee. He has
presented topics for numerous schools, clinics, and other
organizations on injury prevention, care, & rehabilitation.
Jim and Debbie have 2 children and 5 grandchildren.

Frank (Skipper) Mann served for
almost 25 years as athletic trainer at the University of
Kentucky. He dedicated his life to fulfilling the need for
qualified athletic trainers in the work of college sports.
He was considered by historians to be one of the forefathers
of modern athletic training. He attended Chicago University
in 1903, completed a full course in the art of handling the
physical injuries and mental stresses of athletes and began
his student trainer position. In 1906, he accepted an
athletic training position at the University of Indiana
where he remained until he accepted a position at Iowa in
1910. Frank Mann worked at Iowa in the capacity of athletic
trainer from 1910 to 1914 before moving to Kentucky where
worked until his retirement in 1950. During his almost 50
years of experience and contributions, he became known as
one of the nation's most prominent athletic trainers. In
1962, he was one of the original inductees to the Helm's
Hall of Fame for athletic trainers. Mann died in 1957 at
the age of 70.

Charlie Martin received his
undergraduate and masters degrees from the University of
Oklahoma, after being discharged from the Army. He was
the Head Athletic Trainer at Baltimore Junior College
and then at Northeast Louisiana University, where he
worked for nearly 25 years. Charlie received the
25-year award from the NATA and was elected to the
Louisiana Athletic Trainers' Association Hall of Fame in
1984. He was a founding father of the Louisiana
Athletic Trainers Association. Charlie is best known
for his pioneering research on the effects of heat and
humidity in athletes. His writings on the topic were
published numerous times throughout his career. Charlie
was also an expert on the topic of drug testing. He
traveled extensively around the nation and throughout
the world, including Taiwan, The Netherlands and
Belgium, lecturing on these topics, sharing the benefits
of his pioneering work. Charlie will be remembered as
an outstanding ambassador for the athletic training
profession and his work will be missed. Charlie Martin,
54, died July 21, 1988.

James Douglas "Doug" May
began his career as a student athletic trainer working
with Wes Knight at the University of Mississippi in
1967. He has served as a certified athletic trainer at
Florida State University, Tennessee Technological
University, Mississippi State University, Mississippi
University of Women, the University of Tennessee at
Chattanooga and, most recently, at the McCallie School
of Chattanooga, TN. May has served as Vice-President of
the NATA and as District IX Director. In addition, he
is a former District IX President and
Secretary/Treasurer. May is a charter member of the
Mississippi Athletic Trainers' Association and served as
its first president. He is a co-author of the book
Signs and Symptoms of Athletic Injuries. He served
as a member of the medical staff for the 1991 Pan
American Games in Cuba, the 1991 World Winter University
Games in Japan, and the medical team for the 1996 track
and field venue of the Atlanta Olympic Games. In 1990
Doug received the SEATA Award of Merit. He received the
Sandy Sandlin High School Athletic Trainer of the Year
Award from the Tennessee Athletic Trainers’ Society in
1990 and was inducted into their Hall of Fame in 1998.
He was recognized as Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer
in 1995 by the NATA and was inducted into the
NATA Hall
of Fame in 1999.

Born in Carbon Hill, Alabama,
Bill attended the University of Alabama and served as a
student athletic trainer and manager for the Crimson Tide.
At Alabama, he completed his BS in 1967 and his MS in 1968.
He was a high school athletic trainer/coach in the Dekalb
and Cobb County School Systems in Georgia from 1968 to
1972. He began a 15 year tenure at Georgia Tech in 1972
serving as the Director of Sports Medicine and Assistant
Athletic Director. In 1987 he returned home to the
University of Alabama where he continues today as the
Director of Sports Medicine, Football Travel Coordinator,
and On Campus Clinical Coordinator for the athletic training
education program. Bill was an athletic trainer for the
1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. He received the Athletic
Trainer Service Award in 1996 and the Most Distinguished
Athletic Trainer Award in 2000 from the NATA. He has been a
member of NATA since 1967 and was inducted into the Alabama
Athletic Trainers’ Association in 2005. His
induction into the
NATA Hall of Fame came in 2004. Bill continues to
serve the profession in many capacities including service on
the NATA College and University Athletic Trainers’
Committee, the NATA Strategic Implementation Team and on the
Alabama Board of Athletic Trainers.

Lloyd Timothy (Tim) McLane, MBA,
ATC, LAT is currently the Manager of Athletic Training for
the Georgia Health Sciences University Sports Medicine
Center in Augusta, GA. He oversees the outreach program
including its marketing, contracting, and integration with
the Sports Medicine Center Rehabilitation and Physicians
Clinic where they educate residents, Sports Medicine
Fellows, and other health care graduate students. Born and
raised the son of a Navy family, Tim spent most of his time
in the Jacksonville, FL area. He began his road to Athletic
Training while a freshman at Case Western Reserve University
but transferred back home to the University of Florida.
While there he helped establish the Student Injury Care
Center to offer Athletic Training Services to the school’s
intramural athletes. After graduation he worked for The
Physical Therapy Center in Gainesville and Lake City, FL.
He then took a position at the University of Pittsburgh
where he was involved in research and consulting with some
of the staff in Moscow for medical care of marathon
competitors. Tim then began the Sports Medicine Program at
St. Vincent’s Medical Center back in Jacksonville. Building
an outreach program and the business side of Athletic
Training became his passion. While there, he was asked to
be a part of the process to form legislation for the
practice of Athletic Training in Florida. Along with Ross
Davis, he helped bring about the passage of a bill for just
that. During the time he was asked to begin his involvement
with SEATA on the Governmental Affairs Committee. This led
Tim to his involvement on the NATA Governmental Affairs
Committee and the Chair of the NATA Reimbursement Advisory
Group. Tim has also lectured at the annual SEATA meeting on
the Business of Athletic Training to introduce the concept
in a series of workshops. He participated in assisting the
host Committee at the 1996 NATA annual meeting in Orlando.
With the passage of the practice act in Florida, McLane was
the Chair of the task force appointed by the state, and then
became the First Chair of the Board of Athletic Trainers
appointed by Governor Jeb Bush. He has been involved with
the 1996 Olympics as part of the ACOG organization. Tim
also has been involved with gymnastics at all levels in
Florida, the Southeast, and a member of the USA Gymnastics
Medical Staff since 1996 as well. That involvement resulted
in him accompanying the World University Games staff to
Thailand.

Tim’s dedication and service to
the profession have been recognized by his being inducted to
the ATAF Hall of Fame in 2004, 2000 – NATA Athletic Trainer
Service Award, 1996 – Recognition from ATAF for Legislative
efforts and success, 1995 – ATAF Athletic Trainer of the
Year, 1993 – ATAF Clinical/Industrial Athletic Trainer of
the Year.

Lindsy McLean began his career
as a student at Vanderbilt University under Joe Worden in
1956. By 1963, he had earned the position of Head Athletic
Trainer and Director of Physical Therapy at the University
of California, Santa Barbara, and was named Head Athletic
Trainer and Instructor at San Jose State College in 1965.
In 1968, he was named Head Athletic Trainer at The
University of Michigan. In 1979, he became Head Athletic
Trainer of the San Francisco Forty Niners and served there
until his retirement in 2003. Lindsy has served as a USOC
Olympic Team Athletic Trainer in 1976 and was the Nutrament
Collegiate Athletic Trainer of the Year in 1976. He has
served the NATA on the Grants and Scholarship Committee, the
50th Anniversary Taskforce, and the Honors and Awards
Committee where he helped establish the Most Distinguished
Athletic Trainer Award. Perhaps he will best be remembered
for his work with the Professional Advancement Committee
where he served at the first Chair of the Certification
Committee and the Board of Certification when, under his
guidance, the NATA Certification program was established and
implemented. He returned to Tennessee to retire in 2005.

Steve Moore was the Head
Athletics Trainer at Tennessee Tech from 1968 through
1985, building the TTU sports medicine program from the
ground up and caring for Golden Eagle student-athletes
for 17 years. His commitment and professional
contributions have earned him induction into the
Tennessee Tech University Sports Hall of Fame.

A native of Manchester, N.H.,
Moore earned his undergraduate degree from the
University of Vermont in 1962 and added his master’s
degree two years later from Indiana University.

During the summer of 1964,
he was athletic trainer for the Miami Marlins minor
league baseball team, and in August 1964 he took a post
as assistant athletics trainer at IU.

Moore arrived at Tennessee
Tech in 1968 to become the university’s first fill-time
athletics trainer and established the sports medicine
program. He developed an athletic training room in the
lower level of Tucker Stadium, enlarging a program that
had previously consisted of just a couple of tables for
taping and other treatments.

Throughout his career as
Tech’s athletics trainer, Moore was a member of state,
regional and national organizations and gained
recognition from each. He served as Secretary/Treasurer
of the Southeast Athletic Trainers’ Association (SEATA)
from 1968 to 1980 and also earned a SEATA Service
Award. He received the NATA 25 Year Award in 1989 and
was inducted into the Tennessee Athletic Trainers’
Society (TATS) Hall of Fame in 2000. In 2003, he was
inducted into the Tennessee Tech Athletic Hall of Fame.

Moore has had numerous
articles published in a variety of professional
publications, including the Journal of Athletic
Training.

In 1985, he left his
position at Tech and worked for the next 13 years as an
athletic trainer on the clinic level for Cookeville
Sportsmedicine & Therapy Center, and Columbia Sports
Medicine in Nashville where he was Outreach Athletic
Trainer, serving 14 high schools in the Cookeville and
upper Cumberland area.

In addition to his
professional career, Moore had also lent his care and
expertise on the community level. He was a part-time
EMT for the Putnam County EMS from 1979 through 1994 and
worked as a volunteer fireman and Putnam County Rescue
Squad.

He suffered a stroke in
1998, but refused to let that stop his contributions,
organizing the Upper Cumberland Stroke Support Group.
Among their works, the group provides workshops and
clinics on stroke education.

Within the community, he
spearheaded the 9-11 “Light Up The Night” memorial in
September, 2002, (a 9-11 reflect and remember memorial
each September) and works with “Project Unlimited
Support” to collect and send supplies to U.S. troops
overseas.

Hundreds of former Golden
Eagle student-athletes can attest to Moore’s dedication
and commitment in tirelessly providing them with the
best possible care, including the famed “24-Hour Club”
whenever needed to rehab players overnight.

Steve and his wife, Diane,
have three grown children – Christi, Cindy and Michael,
an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps, and six
grandchildren.

Warren Morris learned
athletic training from two of the profession’s most
notable athletic trainers - A.D. Dickinson of Northern
Iowa University and Alfred “Duke” Wyre at the University
of Maryland where he received his M.Ed . From that
solid background, Morris first served as an assistant at
the University of Maryland, then served as an assistant
at the University of North Carolina before he was named
Head Athletic Trainer at the University of Georgia in
1965. He served as District IX Vice–Director from 1967
to 1971 then as District Director from 1971 to 1973.
Morris has also been the NATA’s representative on the
NCAA Football Rules Committee and the Secretary and
Representative on the Joint Commission for Science and
Sports. He has been, and remains, committed to athletic
training efforts in Georgia as well; he was the first
athletic trainer to be licensed in Georgia and has held
the position of Chair of the Georgia Board of Athletic
Trainers, a governor appointed position, for 25 years
since 1980. He was inducted into the NATA Hall of Fame
in 1981 and received the AOSSM Distinguished Service
Award in 1986. Warren was an inductee in the inaugural
Georgia Athletic Trainers’ Association Hall of Fame in
2004 which also honored him with an annual award in his
name, the Warren Morris Sports Medicine Person of the
Year Award.

Leroy Mullins retired from the Athletic Department of
The University of Mississippi in January of 2004 after
serving 29 years in positions of Athletic Trainer,
Director of Insurance and Wellness, and Director of
Sports Medicine.
He served 50 plus years in the
Athletic Training Field with stints at Southwest (MS)
Community College, Eastern Kentucky University,
Mississippi State University, The University of Tennessee
and Ole Miss.
Leroy, a native of Natchez, Miss., began his career at
Southwest Community College, before spending the next
three years at Eastern Kentucky while earning his BS
degree.
He left Eastern Kentucky in 1965 for Mississippi State,
where he spent the next eight years, including one year as
a graduate assistant while earning his Master’s degree,
two years as Assistant Athletic Trainer and five years as
Head Athletic Trainer.
Leroy left Mississippi State for Tennessee where he
served as Associate Head Athletic Trainer in1973 and 1974.
In January of 1975 Leroy joined the staff at The
University of Mississippi.
A retired certified member of the National Athletic
Trainers’ Association and a former member of the
Professional Education Committee of the NATA, Leroy is a
frequent lecturer on Athletic Injuries at seminars,
meetings, and workshops held throughout the United States.
He is also a member of the Southeast Athletic
Trainers’ Association and Mississippi Athletic Trainers’
Association.
He taught in the University’s Health Science Department on
the main campus of Ole Miss and the University Medical
Center in Jackson, MS.
In 1993, Leroy was inducted into the Eastern Kentucky
University Hall of Distinguished Alumni.
In 1994, he received the first Most Distinguished Athletic
Trainer Award given by the National Athletic Trainers’
Association.
In 1996 he received the Tim Kerin Award which is probably
the most prestigious Award given by the National Athletic
Trainers’ Association.
In 2001, Leroy received the Contribution to Amateur
Football Award from the Ole Miss Chapter of the National
Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame, while also
receiving the Award of Merit from the Southeast Athletic
Trainers’ Association.
In 2004 he was inducted into the Mississippi Athletic
Trainers’ Hall of Fame after serving several positions in
this association.
In 2007 Leroy was inducted into the Southwest Community
College Athletic Hall of Fame.
He and his wife, Barbara are parents of two children, Tim
and Renee.Tim
retired as Athletic Trainer at Ole Miss and he and his
wife, Stephanie, are the parents of three sons.Renee and her husband Will, reside in Columbus, MS
and the parents of one son.Leroy’s hobbies include camping, watching NASCAR
auto racing and spending time with his four grandsons,
Jonathan, Micah, Hayden and Garrison.

Mickey O'Brien went to work
for the University of Tennessee in 1938 - just in time
to help with three successive unbeaten seasons and trips
to bowl games. He served as a jack-of-all-trades for
the Vol program. In addition to being Head Athletic
Trainer for all sports teams, he was in charge of the
training table, oversaw the equipment and laundry
operations, and served as chief recruiter in
Chattanooga, North Carolina and Florida. O'Brien was
designated Trainer Emeritus in 1977 for the Volunteers'
football team and served under five football coaches at
Tennessee, beginning with Gen. Bob Neyland. Experts in
sports medicine regarded O'Brien as one of the premier
college athletic trainers. He served as a mentor to
various athletic trainers including NATA Hall of Fame
members Jim Goostree and Chris Patrick. He helped form
the Southeastern Conference Trainers Association and
served as its first president. He died October 24, 1986
in Knoxville. Tennessee at age 79.

Chris Patrick began his
athletic training career while pursuing his
undergraduate degree at the University of Tennessee.
After receiving his master’s degree at Eastern Kentucky,
Chris went on to serve as an athletic trainer at several
major universities, ultimately taking over the position
of Head Athletic Trainer at the University of Florida in
1970, where he continues today as Assistant Athletic
Director for Sports Health. Chris has enjoyed several
professional distinctions, including becoming a
consultant for Bike, Johnson & Johnson and Nike and
receiving the Nutrament College Trainer of the Year
Award. Indicative of his commitment to community
involvement, Chris was elected Volunteer of the Year by
the Gainesville, Florida Boys Club in 1977. Among many
other positions with the NATA, Chris represented
District IX as a member of the NATA Board of Directors
from 1967 to 1971. Chris' work within the profession
and in his local community has helped to broaden and
enhance the image of athletic training. He received the
SEATA Award of Merit in 1989, the same year as his NATA
Hall of Fame induction. He received the Tim Kerin Award
for Excellence in Athletic Training from the NATA in
2000. Chris was inducted into The Athletic Trainers’
Association of Florida in 1995 and received the American
Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine Distinguished
Service Athletic Trainer Award in 2006. He is a member
of the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame and
serves on Aegis Analytical Laboratories Client Advisory
Board.

Tulane had one of the
nation's finest athletic trainers in the person of Earl
"Bubba" Porche. In addition to his duties as athletic
trainer at the Blue-Gray game, Porche served as athletic
trainer for the U.S. Track Team that competed in three
meets in Europe in 1967 and was an athletic trainer at
the Pan-American Games in 1971. Porche came to Tulane
from the Navy in 1946 as Assistant Athletic Trainer. He
was subsequently named Head Athletic Trainer, a post he
held for 36 years. Bubba served as District IX
Secretary from 1957 to 1959 and then represented
District IX on the NATA Board of Directors from 1965 to
1967. He was inducted into the NATA Hall of Fame in
1978 and the Tulane Hall of Fame in 1982. The Louisiana
Athletic Trainers’ Association inducted him into their
Hall of Fame in 1982 and in 1986 established the Bubba
Porche Award to recognize outstanding High School and
Collegiate Athletic Training Students each year. Tulane
further honored Bubba by naming their primary medical
treatment facility for all Tulane student-athletes The
Earl "Bubba" Porche Athletic Training Room.

David Pursley has been
involved in athletic training from student athletic
trainer in high school to reaching head athletic trainer
status with major league baseball. His minor league
years allowed time to be athletic trainer at Evansville
and Clemson colleges, during the off-season. After 10
years in the minor leagues he spent 42 years (1961-2002)
in the major league with the Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves
were highlighted by 5 World Series appearances, 1 World
Series Championship, 4 All Star games (1972, 1983, 1991,
and 2000) and 1 All Star Tour in Japan. He also
provided expertise to the Summer Olympic games in 1996.
In August 2002, the athletic training room inside Turner
Field was renamed as "Pursley's Place."

Dave is a charter member of
Professional Baseball Athletic Trainers Society (PBATS)
and was one of the founding fathers of the Georgia
Athletic Trainers’ Association (GATA). He played a
pivotal role in getting athletic trainer licensing
requirements enacted into law in Georgia and
subsequently served on the Georgia Board of Athletic
Trainers for several years. He was an inaugural
inductee into the GATA Hall of Fame in 2004. He
received the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA)
25 Year Award in 1995. In 2004 he was recognized by the
NATA as a Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer and was
inducted into the NATA Hall of Fame in 2008. He
later received the PBATS Presidents Award in 2008.

Jack Redgren was born in the
small town of Winnebago, Minnesota in 1942. He
graduated from the University of Montana in 1964 and
served in the United States Army from 1965-1967. After
leaving the armed services, Jack graduated from the Mayo
Clinic School of Physical Therapy in 1969. His first
job as an athletic trainer was working under fellow hall
of famer Lindsy McLean at the University of Michigan for
two years. From there, Jack moved south to Vanderbilt
University where he served for 10 years. Since 1981,
Jack has worked in the private sector treating varsity,
professional and recreational athletes. A pioneer in
the field of athletic training education, Jack served
the NATA Professional Education Committee for 17 years
and enjoyed every minute of it. Jack received the Joe
Worden Clinic/Professional Athletic Trainer of the Year
from the Tennessee Athletic Trainers’ Society in 1990
and was inducted to their Hall of Fame in 1996. He was
inducted into the
NATA Hall of Fame in 2002. In March
of 2006, he was named co-recipient of The Contribution
to Football Award by the Middle Tennessee Chapter of the
National and College Football Foundation. He continues
to work part-time with Tennessee Orthopedic Alliance.

Jerry Rhea entered the
athletic training profession in 1956 while a student at
Texas A&M working under NATA Hall of Fame member Smokey
Harper before graduating in 1958. Jerry worked eight
years in the Odessa (Texas) Schools, where he was Head
Athletic Trainer before serving the Los Angeles Rams as
Assistant Athletic Trainer for 2 years. Jerry was the
Head Athletic Trainer for the Atlanta Falcons from 1969
until 1994 and was a frequent convention and clinic
speaker. From 1994 to 2001 he worked as Assistant to
the President of the Falcons. During this time he also
served as President of the Atlanta Falcons Youth
Foundation. He was elected President of SEATA in 1982
and became District IX Director in 1984. He was then
elected president of the NATA for 1986-88 and served on
many NATA committees. Jerry was named the NATA
Professional Athletic Trainer of the Year by Nutrament
in 1979 and 1982. He was inducted into the NATA Hall of
Fame in 1985 and the Southwest Athletic Trainers’
Association Hall of Fame in 1987. He received the SEATA
Award of Merit in 1988 and the American Orthopaedic
Society for Sports Medicine Distinguished Service
Athletic Trainer Award in 1991. In 2001 he received the
Tim Kerin Excellence in Athletic Training Award. Jerry
was a 2004 inductee in the inaugural Georgia Athletic
Trainers’ Association Hall of Fame which also honored
him with an annual award in his name, the Jerry Rhea
Athletic Trainer of the Year Award. The Atlanta Falcons
furthered honored Jerry by endowing an NATA Foundation
Scholarship and as well as both an undergraduate and
graduate SEATA Scholarship in his name.

Jerry Lynn Robertson began
his athletic training career as a student athletic
trainer at East Tennessee State University in 1960.
Upon completing his B.S. in Physical Education in 1964,
he worked one year as a Graduate Assistant Athletic
Trainer at Mississippi State University while earning an
M.Ed. in Administration. In 1965, he returned to ETSU
as the Head Athletic Trainer and continued until 2003.
During this time, he developed and implemented one of
the first undergraduate Athletic Training Education
Programs in SEATA and served as both an Instructor and
as the Curriculum Director since the inception of
program. He also developed and implemented the ETSU
Graduate Assistant High School Outreach Athletic
Training Program. Since 2003, Jerry has been the
Director of the Watauga Orthopaedics Sports Medicine
Foundation in Johnson City, TN.

Jerry joined SEATA and the
NATA in 1965 and was certified in 1970. He has been
extremely active in service both to his local community
and to the profession. This service includes numerous
presentations to several local coaches and civic clubs
as well as the Tennessee State HPER Convention and
several universities throughout the south including the
University of Georgia, Clemson University, and the
University of Florida. He has also served as a faculty
member and speaker at numerous Cramer Sports Medicine
Camps and hosted several Sports Medicine Camps at East
Tennessee. He has been a member of the Mountain Empire
Sports Medicine Society since 1993. From 1986 through
1994, he presented on several topics at the SEATA Annual
Clinical Symposium and the SEATA Annual Athletic
Training Student Symposium.

Jerry was elected President
of SEATA in 1988, and served in this role until moving
up to District Director in 1991, where he served on the
NATA Board of Directors until 1994. He has worked as
the NATA Liaison for public relations, secondary
schools, and scholarship awards. Previous to this, he
served on the NATA National Membership Committee from
1965 to 1970. He has also been an editorial advisor to
the NATA News. His involvement on the state level has
included membership on the Committee for State Licensure
and the State high School Committee for Athletic
Trainers.

Jerry has been recognized
for his leadership and service at all levels. At ETSU
the Jerry Robertson Scholarship Award was established in
his honor in 1981, and he was inducted into the East
Tennessee State University Pirate Club Hall of Fame in
1983. He received the East Tennessee State University
Distinguished Faculty Award in 1995, and in 2002, the
Jerry Robertson BucSports Athletic Medicine Center was
named in his honor. He was honored by the Tennessee
Athletic Trainers’ Society with the Gene Smith/Mickey
O’Brien College Athletic Trainer of the Year Award in
1990, and was inducted into the TATS Hall of Fame in
1995. In 1994, he received the Fellowship of Christian
Athletes Julian Crocker Influence Award. He earned the
NATA 25 Year Award in 1990 and SEATA provided him with
its highest award, the Award of Merit in 1994. Jerry
was recognized with the NATA Most Distinguished Athletic
Trainer Award in 1997.

Sandy, a native of
Huntsville, Alabama, moved to Chattanooga at 14 and
never left the valley he loved. Lee Jensen, the
Chattanooga Lookout’s athletic trainer, saw Sandy with
his gentle manner mending the wing of a fallen bird.
Jensen said, “If you can do that, come help me with the
Lookout players.” Sandy began his career as an athletic
trainer in the early 1930’s with the Chattanooga
Lookouts in the Southern League and in 1935 became the
athletic trainer for the baseball team. Sandy Sandlin
was Head Athletic Trainer at the University of
Chattanooga from 1938 until 1975, during which time he
also spent 1943-45 as athletic trainer at Georgia Tech.
An All-Star Athletic Trainer for the Southern Baseball
League, Sandy moved from the University of Chattanooga
to The Baylor School in 1975 to serve as head athletic
trainer until 1979. According to peers, “He was one of
the most straight-forward, compassionate, and gentle
individuals one could meet. We never met such a sincere
and dedicated man.” In 1973 he was inducted into the
Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame—at a time few non-athletes
were chosen. He received the NATA 25 Year Award in 1974
and was inducted posthumously into the NATA Hall of Fame
in 1987. In 1994 Sandy was inducted into the Tennessee
Athletic Trainers’ Society Hall of Fame which further
honored him with the establishment of the annual Sandy
Sandlin High School Athletic Trainer of the Year Award.

James L. “Jay” Shoop, a 38-year
veteran of the sports medicine profession, returned to
Georgia Tech in 2002 as Director of Sports Medicine after a
year as the Head Athletic Trainer for the Detroit Lions.
Jay oversees all areas of the sports medicine program for
the Yellow Jackets' 17 varsity sports. He previously served
as Tech's Director of Sports Medicine and Head Athletic
Trainer from 1987-1999. He first went to Georgia Tech in
1987 after a two-year stint as Head Athletic Trainer for the
NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He also served two years
(1983-84) as Head Athletic Trainer of the Michigan Panthers
of the USFL, and seven seasons as an Assistant Athletic
Trainer for the Atlanta Falcons with NATA and SEATA Hall of
Fame member Jerry Rhea.

A native of Wise, VA, Jay earned
a B.S. degree from East Tennessee State University in 1970
and a master's degree in 1976 from Furman, where he was Head
Athletic Trainer for six years (1970-76). Jay served as the
Chief Athletic Trainer for the Olympic Village for the 1996
Centennial Olympic Games, and also as the Head Athletic
Trainer for the 1994 Goodwill Games in St. Petersburg,
Russia.

Jay has served as the SEATA
Annual Clinical Symposium Program Chair from 1979 to 1981
and has presented on a variety of topics over several
years. He has served several years as the District IX
representative to the NATA History and Archives Committee
and as chair of the SEATA History and Archives Committee.
From 1995 to 1996, he served on the Ethics Committee and on
the Reimbursement Committee from 1990 to 2000. He also
served several years as President of the Atlantic Coast
Conference Sports Medicine Society. An avid collector of
historical sports memorabilia, he authored the official
History of the Southeast Athletic Trainers Association in
1988. Most recently Jay served as the Co-Host of the 2006
NATA Annual Meeting in Atlanta, GA.

Jay earned the NATA 25 Year
Award in 1992, and was the 1998 recipient of the SEATA Award
of Merit. In 2002, he was inducted into the East Tennessee
State University Athletic Hall of Fame and received the NATA
Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer Award in 2004. The
Georgia Athletic Trainers’ Association inducted Jay into
their Hall of Fame in 2007.

Jay is married to the former
Anne Brockman of Greenville, S.C., and the couple has a
daughter, Farrah, and a son, Lynn, a daughter-in-law,
Meredith, one grandson, Logan, and one granddaughter, Summer
Faye.

Claude "Big Monk" Simons has
gone down in history as one of the great names in
intercollegiate athletics. Claude and his younger brother
known as “Little Monk” were a part of Tulane Athletics
during the 1930’s and the 1940’s. Both played football for
the Green Wave. Simons also served as head coach in
basketball, baseball, track and boxing while at Tulane.
Simons was president of the Southern Amateur Athletic Union
and had Tulane's Olympic-size pool named in his honor.
Claude was a part of the transition from coach to athletic
trainer in the very early years of the profession. He began
to assume more and more of the duties that we associate with
the Athletic Trainer. Monks efforts lead to the formal
position of an athletic trainer. He fulfilled these duties
for several years serving as the Head Athletic Trainer at
Tulane University from 1921 until his death in 1943. He
left a set up that served as a setting for Spike Dixon and
Bubba Porche, both NATA Hall of Fame Members. Claude was
inducted into the NATA Hall of Fame in 1962 and the
Louisiana Athletic Trainers’ Hall of Fame in 1998.

Eugene “Doc” Smith served as
Head Athletic Trainer at Memphis State University for 19
years before his death. A native of Kingman, Kansas, he
attended Sterling College where he received his B.S. degree
in 1949. While an undergraduate at Sterling College he
lettered in football, basketball, and track. From there he
obtained his Master’s degree in athletic training from the
University of Indiana in 1954. However, following
graduation from Sterling, Smith taught and was assistant
coach at Bazine, Kansas High School for 4 years.

In 1954 he returned to the
coaching profession serving one year as assistant coach at
Great Bend, Kansas High School. His first full-time job as
an athletic trainer was at Palo Duro High School in
Amarillo, Texas, where he stayed five years before coming to
Memphis State in 1960, as Head Athletic Trainer and
Professor in the physical education department.

On the regional and national
level, “Doc” Smith was an active member of SEATA and the
NATA. He was elected Vice-Director of SEATA in 1971 and
served in that capacity until becoming District Director in
1973 where he represented District IX on the NATA Board of
Directors until 1976. He chaired the NATA national
convention in St. Louis. In addition, he was selected as
the athletic trainer for the American All-Stars, and toured
China in the summer of 1974. He was also a major force for
legislation of athletic training certification in Tennessee
during the late 1970's.

Longtime MSU football coach and
athletic director Billy “Spook” Murphy remembered that “If
Doc said they couldn’t play, they didn’t play. But he could
get players well and ready to go better than anybody I ever
saw. He made you want to get well and play. He was the
finest athletic trainer I’ve ever run into …one of the most
thorough people I’ve ever dealt with.”

Gene was only 52 when he died
November 21, 1979 after a long and valiant battle with
pancreatic cancer. Not long before that he had been
inducted into the Memphis State University Athletic Hall of
Fame, and at his death the Doc Smith Scholarship Fund for
Student Athletic Trainers was established in his memory.

Eddie Cantler was Gene’s
assistant and succeeded him as Memphis State’s head athletic
trainer. As Eddie remembers him today “Gene was hardnosed
and of the old school. He was very deliberated in action,
but one of the most caring people I’ve ever known. As I sit
and notice some of his mannerisms that I picked up, I
realize how much of an effect he had on me. In this day and
age of technology, when I run into roadblocks I go back to
his way of doing things and get results.”

He was inducted into the
Tennessee Athletic Trainers’ Society Hall of Fame (TATS) in
1995. TATS named their College Athletic Trainer Award the
Eugene Smith/Mickey O’Brien College Athletic Trainer of the
Year in honor of him and University of Tennessee Athletic
Trainer Mickey O’Brien.

Sue Stanley–Green received her
BS from The Ohio State University and her MS from Purdue
University. She served as Director of Intramural
Recreational Services at East Carolina University. While at
ECU, she met NATA Executive Secretary Mary Edgerly when the
national office was in Greenville, NC. It was through this
introduction to the NATA that Sue started her extensive
service to the NATA and the athletic training profession.
Her athletic training career included being the Associate
Head Athletic Trainer at the University of Kentucky and the
first women to work SEC Football, Athletic Trainer-Physician
Extender for Kentucky Sports Medicine Clinic, Head Athletic
Trainer at Centre College and at the time of her induction
into the Hall of Fame, Program Director of the Athletic
Training Education Program at Florida Southern College.
Sue’s service to the profession includes serving as a member
of the NATA Board of Directors, a two time Director on the
Board of Certification, President of District IX, Vice
President of the Kentucky Athletic Trainers Society, and
Co-Medical Director of the Bluegrass State Games. She
traveled internationally with USA Basketball Teams. Ms.
Stanley – Green’s awards include the NATA Most Distinguished
Athletic Trainer Award, SEATA Award of Merit, SEATA Backbone
Award and was the recipient of the 2004 American Academy of
Podiatric Sports Medicine Excellence in Athletic Training.
She is married to fellow NATA Hall of Fame recipient Al
Green. They are the first married couple inducted into the
NATA Hall of Fame (2004).

Col. Frank Wandle was athletic
trainer at Army, Yale and served two years at Louisiana
State University around 1933 before retiring. Dates are not available
but he was inducted into the NATA Hall of Fame in 1962.

Keith Webster graduated from
the University of Kentucky in 1978. Following
graduation, he became the first Head Athletic Trainer at
Centre College in Danville, KY from 1978-1980. From
1980-1982 he served as Assistant Athletic Trainer for
Football and was in charge of Men’s Basketball at the
University of Florida. Keith was then Head Athletic
Trainer at Morehead State University from 1982-1992
where he earned a Masters Degree in 1985. He left MSU
to join Kenny Howard and Dr. Jack Hughston at The
Hughston Sports Medicine Foundation as the Director of
Sports Relations until 1997. He returned to UK in 1997
as the Head Athletic Trainer and later became Assistant
Professor, Adjunct Faculty in the College of Health
Sciences.

During more than 30 years as
a certified member of the NATA, Keith has served the
profession in many ways. He has been Vice President and
President of both the Kentucky Athletic Trainers’
Society and Georgia Athletic Trainers’ Association. He
has served as Chair and as a member of various
committees for KATS and GATA including: Legislative,
Reimbursement, Scholarship, and Student Membership.
While at the Hughston Sports Medicine Foundation, Keith
initiated the cadaver lab mini course for the SEATA
annual meeting. He was host and Program Director for
the SEATA Annual Student Symposium in 1995 and 1997. He
was a Collegiate Sports Medicine Foundation Advisory
Board member (2005-2008) and presented at several of
their meetings.

Keith represented District
IX on the NATA Governmental Affairs Committee from 1987
to 1997 before becoming chair from 1997-2006. During
his GAC service, the remainder of SEATA states passed
legislation and several successfully updated their laws
and he became a Charter Member of the NATA Leadership
Information Management Education (LIME) Team which
provided support and testimony for state associations
pursuing legislation from 2004-2007. He was
instrumental in gaining the Athletic Training Revenue
Code (#951) assigned by the American Hospital
Association in 1999. Keith represented NATA during
numerous National Conference of State Legislatures
annual meetings. He also led a task force to meet with
HHS officials in Washington, D.C. to discuss HIPAA
Privacy implications for athletic trainers. Keith was a
Charter Member of the NATA Reimbursement Advisory Group
(now the Committee on Revenue) from 1994-2000. He
served on the NATA Educational Multimedia Committee from
1994-1997 and served as BOC examiner throughout his
career including being a BOC Test Site Administrator
from 1994-1997. As President of KATS and GATA, he also
served on the SEATA Executive Board. While in Columbus,
Keith was a member of the Editorial Board for the
Hughston Health Alert from 1992-1997 and in 1999
successfully proposed the relocation of the Journal of
Athletic Training (JAT) Managing Editor’s office to The
Hughston Sports Medicine Foundation. He was a SEATA
Research and Education Committee member from 1993-2001
and a SEATA Convention Site Committee member from
1988-1992. Keith currently chairs the District IX
NATAPAC Committee and serves on the NATA Political
Action Committee (PAC) Board of Directors.

Keith has been a frequent
NATA Annual Convention speaker and has also presented to
the NAIA Athletic Directors Convention, the BOC Athletic
Trainer Regulatory Conference, the NSCA Executive
Council, the AOSSM and Major League Baseball. He
presented at the SEATA Annual Meeting many times and has
also presented to Districts I & II (EATA), III, IV, and
VIII.

Keith served as athletic
trainer with the 1978 World Invitational Tournament
(Men’s Basketball). He was Head Athletic Trainer for
the 1995 World Team Cup Table Tennis Tournament and
worked the 1996 IAAF Atlanta Grand Prix Track & Field
event. He was named Chief Athletic Trainer for Table
Tennis during the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games in
Atlanta. In 1997 Keith travelled to Japan to present
athletic training topics during the Kobe Athlete Town
Project. Keith was the host athletic trainer for the
1996 NCAA Division I Softball World Series and the 1996
National Softball Coaches’ Association Tournament. He
also covered basketball during the 1979 National Sports
Festival II in Colorado Springs.

Gary
Wilkerson is a tenured professor at the University of
Tennessee at Chattanooga, where he has served as a
member of the Graduate Athletic
Training Education Program faculty since 2000. He
earned degrees from Eastern Kentucky University, the
University of Arizona, and the University of Kentucky.
Upon SEATA Hall of Fame induction in 2010, has been a
member of SEATA for 31 years; the past 11 years as a
member of the Tennessee Athletic Trainers’ Society and
for 20 years as a member of the Kentucky Athletic
Trainers’ Society. Over the past 32 years he has had a
wide variety of professional experiences, which have
included prevention and treatment of sports injuries
among high school, college, and Olympic athletes,
functioning as a physician extender in a multi-specialty
medical practice, teaching family practice residents,
co-founding and managing a sports rehabilitation clinic,
consulting with manufacturers of sports medicine
equipment, and providing corporate health management
services.

Previous professional affiliations have included
full-time positions at Amphitheater
High School (Tucson, AZ), Centre College (Danville, KY),
Trover Clinic (Madisonville, KY), and BioKinetics
Therapy & Training (Paducah, KY). Service to SEATA has
included 10 years as a member of the Research &
Education Committee, six of which he served as chair,
eight years as the Tennessee representative on the
Clinical & Emerging Practices Committee, 10 consecutive
years as a faculty member for the SEATA Athletic
Training Student Symposium, and chair of the Poster
Abstract Review Subcommittee for the past two SEATA
Athletic Training Educators’ Conferences. Service to
NATA has included six years as a member of the
Post-Professional Education Committee and 10 years as a
member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Athletic Training,
Recently he has been appointed to the NATA Fellows
Selection Council and the Healthcare Reform Think Tank,
and reappointed for another term on the JAT
Editorial Board. Other service to the athletic training
profession has included participation as a member of the
medical staff for the Bluegrass State Games,
coordination of Kentucky High School Athletic
Association regional sports medicine conferences for
coaches, serving as an examiner for the Board of
Certification examination, making numerous presentations
at state meetings, serving as a post-professional
education program accreditation reviewer, and making
three international trips to conduct workshops at sports
medicine conferences sponsored by Athletes in Action in
Mexico and Guatemala.

Dr.
Wilkerson’s primary expertise relates to ankle
biomechanics, neuromuscular
control of the lower extremity, and rehabilitation
outcomes. He has made numerous presentations at
national and international professional conferences, and
he has served as Editor-in-Chief of Athletic Therapy Today
for the past eight years. His research has been
published in Journal of Athletic Training, American
Journal of Sports Medicine, Foot & Ankle International,
Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, The
Physician and Sportsmedicine, Journal of Sport
Rehabilitation, and Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports
Physical Therapy.

He has
received the SEATA District Award, the NATA Athletic
Training Service Award, and the NATA Most Distinguished
Athletic Trainer Award, and was among the first
group of athletic training scholars
selected to receive the designation of Fellow of the
NATA in 2008.

Roy Don Wilson or “R.D.” as
many of his colleagues knew him, graduated from Texas A
& M University in 1964. Upon graduation he accepted a
high school job as Head Athletic Trainer at Ector High
School in Odessa, Texas (1964-66). Since then R.D.
served at many levels in different capacities: Assistant
Athletic Trainer at Florida State University (1966-68);
Head Athletic Trainer at The Citadel (1968-70); Head
Athletic Trainer at the University of Kentucky
(1970-78); Head Athletic Trainer at the University of
Southwestern Louisiana (1978-82); Director of the Sport
Medicine Clinic of Lexington, Kentucky (1982-83); Head
Athletic Trainer of the Houston Gamblers of the United
States Football League (1984-85); Director of the
Houston Clinic for Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation
(1985-88) and Director and partner of the Sports Rehab
Clinic of Houston (1988-92).

R.D. was an active
participant in the profession at all levels. He served
as the SEATA Annual Meeting Program Co-Chair in
1975-1976 and as Chair from 1979-1981. He also
represented Kentucky on the SEATA Executive Committee in
1975 and later as Louisiana’s representative in 1979.
He was elected as the Vice-Director of SEATA in 1977 and
served in that capacity until 1979 when the position was
changed to President which he continued in until 1982.
In 1982 he became District IX Director and represented
SEATA on the NATA Board of Directors until 1984. He was
elected Secretary and Chairman of the Joint Commission
of Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports.
Furthermore, R.D. served as Chairman of the Legislative
Committee for both the Kentucky and Louisiana Athletic
Trainer Association. R.D. also served as a NATA
Certification examiner and a State of Texas Licensure
examiner as well as the first Vice-President for the
Southwest Athletic Trainers’ Association (SWATA) before
serving as President from 1988 to 1989. He was
appointed as the first chairman of the NATA Clinical
Athletic Trainers Committee in 1987. He served as
Interim President of the Greater Houston Athletic
Trainers’ Society in 1988 during its initial year.

Roy Don was inducted into
the SWATA Hall of Fame in 1996. SWATA further honored
him with the establishment of the Roy Don Wilson
Memorial Scholarship. He was inducted into the
Louisiana Athletic Trainers’ Association Hall of Fame in
1999 and into the Kentucky Athletic Trainers’ Society
Hall of Fame in 2006.

Roy Don was a real
contributor whose life was taken in 1992 at age 50 after
a long battle with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and resultant
heart disease. He was survived by his former wife, Pat,
their son, Blaine, and their daughter, Christi.

Crandall
Woodson served as the first student athletic trainer at
Sturgis High School in 1973. He was first exposed to
sports medicine by legendary Hall of Fame Athletic
Trainers Jim Goostree, Bubba Porche, Doc Harrington, and
Jim Gallaspy at the Cramer Athletic Training Course at
the University of Southern Mississippi in 1974. He
earned an athletic training scholarship at Mississippi
State University in 1975 under Hall of Fame Athletic
Trainer Doug May. Crandall completed Emergency Medical
Technician training in 1977 and then completed and was
certified as one of the first paramedics in the State of
Mississippi. Crandall was certified in Advanced Cardiac
Life Support (ACLS) in 1978 and later served as an ACLS
Instructor at the University of Mississippi Medical
Center. He also served as Head Athletic Trainer for the
prestigious B/C All Star Basketball Camps in Georgia,
Indiana, and Maryland until 1985. Upon earning his BS
degree from Mississippi State, he completed Masters work
at Murray State University under the direction of Tom
Simmons in 1983. Crandall was named as the first
Assistant Athletic Trainer at Murray State. In 1985, he
was hired at Georgia Tech working under Hall of Fame
Athletic Trainers Bill McDonald and Jay Shoop. In 1992
he received the SEATA Backbone Award. Crandall also
served as an athletic trainer for the 1996 Summer
Olympics in Atlanta.

In 2000, he entered the
medical sales field and became Distributor for Breg and
later Bledsoe products. His athletic training
background has helped drive his company to Distributor
of the Year honors. Crandall also served as the
athletic trainer for the movie “Remember the Titans” and
enjoyed a working relationship with Ryan Gosling and
Denzel Washington.

Crandall has served on the
Honors & Awards Committee at SEATA since being selected
by Tim Kerin in 1987 and succeeded Doug May as Chairman
of the Committee in 1992. He has also been active on
the national level serving on the Hall of Fame
subcommittee and Specialty Awards subcommittee.

After graduating from
Pfugerville High School in Texas, Joe Worden attended
the University of Texas in Austin where he completed a
B.S. in Physical Education and a Masters Degree in
Education. While there, he first became interested in
the care and prevention of athletic injuries and had the
unique opportunity to train under the legendary Frank
Medina, a former U.S. Olympic Trainer. Joe was a member
of the U.S. Marine Corps and saw action in Guam and the
Marshall Islands during World War II. He became
Vanderbilt’s head athletic trainer in 1949 and handled
all sports until 1971 when he was assigned to specialize
in football and men’s basketball. He continued to
assist club sports, and in 1977 began working with the
newly created women’s intercollegiate athletic program.
He officially retired at Vanderbilt in 1986, but
continued to volunteer his services and never missed a
game until his death on June 5, 1998. Affectionately
referred to as “Joe Bird”, he was one of the most
respected and beloved staff members in the history of
Vanderbilt Athletics. He represented District IX on the
NATA Board of Directors from 1964 to 1965. He was
inducted into the NATA Hall of Fame in 1984 and the
Tennessee Athletic Trainers’ Society Hall of Fame in
1994. Two highly regarded awards have been named for
him — the Joe Worden Clinic/Professional Athletic
Trainer of the Year Award given by the Tennessee
Athletic Trainers’ Society and the Joe L. Worden Courage
Award presented by the Middle Tennessee Chapter of the
National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame.
Joe was inducted in the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame in
February 2004.

Dr.
Kenneth E. Wright is a professor in the Program in Sport
Management at The University of Alabama. Dr. Wright
received the Sayers "Bud" Miller Distinguished Educator
of the Year Award (2000), Distinguished Athletic Trainer
Award (2006), and Athletic Trainer Service Award (1996)
from the National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA)
along with Outstanding Alumnus from the College of
Health Sciences at Eastern Kentucky University (2001),
and Academic Excellence Award from The University of
Alabama College of Education (1996-97).

Dr.
Wright has numerous publications to his credit including
a series of seven videos titled Sports Medicine Evaluation Series,
a series of six videos titled Sports Medicine Taping,
a computer assisted instructional program titled Sports Injuries
and two textbooks, Basic Athletic Training,
5th edition and Preventive Techniques: Taping/Wrapping
Techniques and Protective Devices,
3rd edition. Since 1990, Dr. Wright has presented at
sixteen different NATA Annual Meeting & Clinical
Symposiums and has been invited to present to sport
medicine professionals in the countries of China, Japan,
Canada and the United Kingdom. Additionally, Ken has
served on the editorial board of the Journal of Athletic Training,
Physical Therapy in Sport,
and Sports Medicine Update.

Having
served as Head Athletic Trainer at the University of
North Carolina at Charlotte (1981-1988) and Morehead
State University (1978-1981), Dr. Wright has been highly
active in the National Athletic Trainers' Association
(i.e. Educational Multimedia Committee, Journal of
Athletic Training, JRC-AT Site Visitor, Education
Council, and conference coordinator for SEATA and
Mid-Atlanta athletic trainer meetings) and the United
States Olympic Committee. Also, he has collaborated
with United States Anti-Doping Agency (Doping Control
Officer and Chair of DCO Advisory Committee) and worked
at the 2010 Olympic and Paralympics Winter Games in
Vancouver, Canada and the 2002 Olympic and Paralympics
Winter Games in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Dr.
Wright received
his Doctor of Arts from Middle Tennessee State
University (1984), Masters of Science from Syracuse
University (1976), and a Bachelor of Science degree from
Eastern Kentucky University (1974). Ken is married to
Dr. Vivian Wright, Associate Professor in Instructional
at The University of Alabama, and has three daughters,
Kate (3rd year physical therapy student at UAB), Kelly
(elementary school teacher in West Nairobi School,
Nairobi, Kenya) and Kendra (freshman at The University
of Mississippi).